When Two Become One
by Lauraa.Ann
Summary: Sequel to Caught in a Storm. Preparing for your wedding should be the most exciting time of your life but when you only have nine days, one of your best friends is moving halfway around the world and you end up lost, miles away from home the day before tensions are bound to rise. Will Morgan and Garcia finally get their happy ending? Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**When Two Become One  
****Chapter One**

So here is the sequel to Caught in a Storm! A bit of background information (just skip to the story if you're not interested!), I had the idea for Caught in a Storm but didn't know the details of how they were going to get together so I wrote this part before I wrote the beginning and then I was able to fill in the blanks. The sequel was loads of fun to write, it ends up with a Hangover/Bridesmaids feel to it but it illustrates the friendships between the team as well as the Morgan and Garcia's relationship, I hope you like it - let me know if you do!

* * *

The temperature on the jet was a pleasant contrast to the cold Alaskan temperatures outside, it was reminder that the team were on their way home, back to reality. Penelope Garica chuckled softly to herself as she followed her fiancé down the aisle and sat down on the comfy plane seats. Derek took her hand and stroked his thumb over her fingers before bringing it to his mouth.

"What you thinking about Baby?" he asked in his usual husky voice.

She shrugged slightly in response but then smiled "the last time I was on this plane I would not have even considered in my wildest, wildest dreams that the next time I got on, that I would be engaged to the sexiest male species on the planet."

He returned her smile and leant over and kissed her gently on the lips "life is a funny thing, it throws us into the most unexpected on places and makes us realise the truth. The truth is you are and always will be my world, don't ever forget it" he said sincerely before kissing her once more.

"Seriously, I have been forced to see this for the past two days, could you people give it a rest just until we get home, please?" Rossi asked with a smile on his face sitting himself in one of the chairs across the aisle from them.

"Yes!" J.J. exclaimed following close behind him "we have a wedding to organise and only nine days to do it in!"

Derek groaned slightly as he reluctantly parted from his fiancé, Penelope however beamed as she pulled out her laptop and a dozen bridal magazines from her bag.

"Where did you find that many magazines in a town that small?" Emily cried as she took the seat beside J.J., she picked up one of them and began flicking through it casually.

"This is Garcia" Hotch stated in his usual serious tone as he and Reid entered the jet "are we surprised?"

Penelope began distributing them to each person on the plane during take off, the senior members of the team began scouring through the pages, having had four weddings between them gave them the knowledge and experience that was necessary. Reid and Morgan however were ignorant to the world of white dresses, vows and flower arrangements causing them to raise their eyebrows at every page as each arrangement was more extravagant than the last.

"Jayje? Em? I hope you'll both be my maids of honour?" Garcia asked her two best friends sitting opposite her.

Their faces lit up, "of course we will!" J.J. exclaimed placing her magazine down on the table in front of her.

"I know you've got a lot to sort out before you leave..."

"Garcia, this is your wedding and you're having it in a little over a week so I can be there, everything gets put on hold" Emily replied

Penelope took her hand and squeezed it affectionately, "thank you"

"So what do we need to sort out first?" J.J. asked getting out a piece of paper and a pen "obviously I didn't do the planning element for my wedding so it'll be fun helping organise yours, I'll make a to do list"

Derek smiled knowingly at the other men on plane, he knew he wasn't going to get a great deal of input into the wedding but he didn't care, as long as he was finally marrying his Baby Girl, nothing else mattered.

He tuned back into the conversation to hear that his fiancé had already used her genius skills to research a beautiful hall for the reception with a garden where they could have the ceremony, he knew whatever she'd chosen he'd love because she knew him better than anyone.

"That leaves, dresses, suits, flowers, catering, bachelor and bachelorette parties, entertainment, a vicar and guests" J.J. listed reading aloud what she had written down, "well we can go dress shopping on Saturday whilst your strapping man looks for suits. Flowers, entertainment and catering we can ring around and get quotes ASAP..."

"Obviously me and J.J. will be organising an out of control bachelorette party and Morgan, once you choose your best man your fate is sealed!" Emily laughed

J.J. smiled in agreement "oh yes, don't think you're getting out of that one! And as for guests, you'll have to make a list and start letting people know"

Morgan looked at Penelope "we don't want too many people, do we?"

Garcia shook her head in response "just close family and friends" her eyes then widened under her red-rimmed glasses, "have you told your Mom yet?"

"Baby you only said yes an hour ago! I promise I'll call her as soon as we land!" Morgan already knew how his Momma was going to react, she had been waiting for this day since he had been born. Every year that he visited her for her birthday she asked him about when he was going to give her Grandbabies and although she has never met Garcia, he knew she could always tell that she was the one for him.

"Well, you all seem to have it under control, never let it be said that the BAU can't organise a wedding. I think this is going to a day we are never going to forget" Rossi chuckled.

* * *

As the plane landed, Morgan waited until everyone else had left except Reid.

He picked up the latest book he had been reading and put it in his bag before he looked up and noticed his colleague standing waiting for him, "hey, shouldn't you have gone with Garcia?" he asked placing his brown satchel across his body.

Morgan shook his head and leant casually against the chair "I told her to go on without me"

Reid frowned in confusion "oh right", and then raised his eyebrows encouraging his friend to explain why he was there.

"Listen kid I need to talk to you, I don't usually get all sentimental but I've known you for eight years and you've become one of my closest friends, I know we joke about being family but we are and you're like a brother to me, so I couldn't think of anyone better to be my best man" he said sincerely

The young genius stood there stunned, Morgan had always been the stereotypical popular jock, the alpha male. He was the polar opposite, the nerd, the class reject, he would never have thought that he would want him to be the one stood next to him on the day of his wedding, "me?" he asked.

Derek smiled at him and nodded "yeah you Reid"

"I-I'd love to" he replied mirroring his smile.

Morgan clapped him on the shoulder and beamed as they began to exit the plane "great! But I want the speech to be statistic free, I mean it man if I hear one percentage you are outta there!"

"I'll try my hardest, does this mean I have to organise your bachelor party?"

Morgan sighed with a look of uncertainty, "yeeeah...I'd get Rossi to help you with that one"

Reid nodded slowly "but we're NOT going to Vegas" he said quickly "but did you know Las Vegas is the top wedding destination with over 100,000 weddings a year, followed by Hawaii at 25,000 weddings a year, it-"

"-OK! We're not to Vegas!" he cried rolling his eyes, no matter how much Dr Reid could irritate him at times, he was glad to have him.


	2. Chapter 2

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Two**

A/N - Thank you already for such a wonderful response, I genuinely appreciate your reviews, favourites, follows! Hope you keep enjoying it, keep letting me know!

* * *

**Saturday 2.36pm - 6 days to go...**

It had only been three days since they had returned from Alaska but already the women of the BAU were stressing themselves out. It was the first full day that they were dedicating to wedding preparations and so far their search for outfits for the big day was going disastrously.

"We must have been to a hundred dress shops this morning, why do they all seem so wrong!?" Emily moaned as she sipped her coffee at the cafe the three women had stopped at to get lunch.

"Because the wedding is in six days" J.J. stated "there must be somewhere that has dresses in the store, where are we headed to next?"

Penelope frowned and pulled out the piece of paper that she had printed off earlier with a list of bridal shop addresses on it, she drew a neat line through the last shop they had visited before reading the next name, "a little boutique around the corner called Belle Nouvelle Mariée, if I'm not mistaken from my several years learning French whilst in the education system it means 'beautiful new bride'"

"Well you're hardly going to be an old bride, are you?" Emily said sarcastically

Garcia stood up and put her hands on her hips, "a more positive attitude please mon ami. Once we have these dresses, the rest will fall into place"

J.J. followed her friend's lead "right we had better get going then"

* * *

"Oh wow..." the three women gasped at once as they walked through the door of the bridal shop. It was a complete contrast to the immaculate, white carpeted rooms they had seen earlier that morning, instead it had a homely feel as there was patterned red wallpaper and real wooden floors. There were different rooms each colour co-ordinated to match the colour scheme of the dresses inside, complete with matching accessories and shoes.

"Garcia, I think you've found your place" Emily whispered, unable to speak Penelope just nodded slowly, it was exactly her, eccentric but beautiful and everything matched.

Suddenly a woman with long, greying hair came out from one of the rooms, "hello ladies" she greeted kindly shaking each of their hands "my name is Maryanne, which of you is the blushing bride?"

To this Penelope raised her hand and smiled as she found her voice again, "that would be me, my name's Penelope Garcia"

The woman smiled warmly at the three women, "well Penelope how can I help you and your friends today?" she asked.

"I'm looking for a wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses for my friends" she replied

Maryanne picked up a clipboard from her desk, "just the two bridesmaids?" she asked beginning to make notes on her pad of paper.

"Yes" she answered, she had already known that it was only going to be her best friends who would be beside her on the day of her wedding, and although she would have loved a little flower girl scattering petals in front of her unfortunately her friends had been blessed with babies of the male gender, so instead she would have two very smart page boys walking down the aisle.

"Have you got a date for your wedding?" Maryanne continued down the list of general questions that had been asked to many women in the past.

Garcia looked at her friends apprehensively, this had been the question that had deterred them away from most of the bridal shops as they did not stock many dresses and they would need to order specific sizes in advance, usually taking weeks to arrive, "yes... it's next Friday"

The older woman just looked bemused, "leaving it to the last minute aren't you?" she laughed

Penelope smiled "I only got engaged three days ago, it's a long story!"

"Not to worry dear, you shall have your dresses on time, do you know what you want your colour scheme to be?"

She looked around at all the different colours in the various rooms and shrugged, at a loss at where to begin "I was hoping that once I'd found the perfect dress, I would match the colour around that"

"I see, so your fiancé doesn't have his suit yet?"

"No" she smiled "he and his friends are out looking now"

* * *

"Reid! This looks ridiculous! It's two inches short! Henry wouldn't even fit this jacket!" Morgan cried staring at himself in the mirror, he had left his best man in charge of bringing him suits to try on but he was beginning to wish that he had organised it himself.

"Sorry" he said sheepishly "I'll go and get some help"

Rossi, Hotch, Jack and Henry were all sat on couches in the waiting room styled area of the shop as Reid came out of the dressing room.

"I am a really bad best man, I can't even get him a jacket that fits!" he cried sitting beside Rossi who responded by putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Reid, I've been married three times and I still can't get it right so you've got nothing to worry about. A word of advice though, get him out here to choose which suits he wants, then sort the boys out first cause theirs will be the easiest in terms of size and then we'll get to you two, ok?"

Reid nodded as Morgan came out of the dressing room grumbling to himself holding the small suit.

"Morgan, have you chosen a suit that you like? We can get the boys' suits adjusted to size then" Hotch asked

Still annoyed by the whole situation he mumbled "yeah, just the black one" as he handed the suit back to the sales assistant. Reid rolled his eyes, the plain black suit was the first one they had tried on an hour ago.

"Right then" Hotch said standing up and taking his son's hand "let's go get you a suit to try on" and walked towards the sales assistant to tell him what he required.

Reid picked up his godson "come on Henry, we need to get you looking smart for Auntie Penelope's wedding" and followed his boss.

Morgan sat miserably beside Rossi and ran his hand over his head in frustration, "what's wrong?" he asked.

"I didn't expect this was going to be so difficult, I didn't think I'd have to sort all this! Having to try on suits that are ten times too small!" Morgan cried

"Listen here, that girl of yours is doing 90% of the organising for your big day, I think you owe it to her to get at least one thing right. She's even going to get the ties with the dresses so they match the colour scheme. I wish even one of my wives was that efficient!" he smiled "Morgan, don't let one day of stress cloud over how much you love her"

Now Morgan smiled thinking about Garcia "I won't, thanks Rossi"

"Right, let's get you something to wear for your day then"

* * *

"Oh. My. God." breathed Emily and J.J. as Penelope walked out of the dressing room. She was trying on a dress that had caught her eye the minute she had walked through the door. The dress was strapless and hugged her around her torso before flowing outwards slightly at the waist, it was mainly traditional white in colour but with crimson silky material over her chest with silver embroidery around it which was also found at the hem of the skirt. It was not overly eccentric as Garcia was usually known for but it was simple with just enough colour so not to blend in with her pale complexion, it fully enhanced her beauty.

Penelope turned slowly towards the mirrors and gasped, it was perfect, she knew she didn't have to look anywhere else because nothing could compare to the exquisite ensemble that she was presently wearing.

"Like it?" asked Maryanne, even she had a twinkle in her eye.

"Thi- this is my wedding dress" she beamed with tears in her eyes, "now I need to dress my girlies"

"What are you thinking?" Emily asked narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Penelope grinned sneakily "they're waiting for you..."

J.J. looked at Emily nervously and raised her eyebrows before they walked into the dressing rooms with caution. Penelope laughed to herself before getting changed out of her own outfit.

Ten minutes later Penelope watched her friends emerge, she beamed and felt tears form in her eyes again, her best friends were so beautiful. The crimson strapless dresses clung to their thin figures perfectly and the diamantes with the same silver embroidery, as on her dress, across the chest gave them just that bit of flair that Penelope Garcia was famous for.

"I have to hand it to you Garcia, these are incredible" said Emily looking in the mirror, J.J. nodded in agreement.

"Oh come here" Penelope cried unable to stop the tears from falling as she pulled her friends into a tight embrace. After finally letting them go and get changed she turned to Maryanne "I'll take the wedding dress, those two bridesmaids dresses, the matching shoes and accessories, two matching men's ties and two matching boys ties please"

"That's fine my lovely I'll get that organised for you now" she said with a warm smile on her face.

Penelope smiled and pulled out her smartphone selecting the number of her fiancé before putting it to her ear, "hello my striking chocolate thunder, how's the suit shopping going?"

"It was a bit rough to start with but they're all bought now" said Derek Morgan's voice

"Oh that's great, well I've got the dresses and your ties"

"What's your dress like Baby?"

She simply laughed "ah you shall have to wait until Friday my sweet! You know how much I love hearing your sexy voice but could you put Hotch on please?"

"Ok, speak to you soon, I love you"

Her heart still swelled every time she heard him speak those three simple words to her "I love you too Hot Stuff"

After a few moments of silence as the phone exchanged hands the voice of their Unit Chief was heard "Garcia?"

"Hotch would it be ok if you brought Jack and Henry to my apartment so I can see them in their suits to make sure they're ok?"

"That's fine, what time?"

"Thanks! We're leaving soon so I'll see you in about an hour, ok bye"

"Who was that?" J.J. asked placing her dress on the counter to be paid for.

"Hotch, he's going to bring Jack and Henry to mine so I can see them in their suits" she replied putting her phone back in her bag and pulling out her purse to pay for the items.

"Can we get a takeaway on the way, I'm starved? All this dress shopping is so stressful so your personal bar better be open as well Garcia!" Emily laughed coming out of the dressing room and mirroring her friend's actions.

"Anything your heart should desire my dear Emily, you shall have"


	3. Chapter 3

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Three**

A/N - Thank you again for your continued support, please keep reviewing, favouriting, following etc etc...

* * *

**Saturday 5.58pm - Still 6 days to go...**

It was the warmth and cosiness of Garcia's apartment that caused her friends to collapse onto the couch, tired after their day of shopping. The room was soon filled with the appetising smell of Chinese food causing their stomachs to grumble furiously as they opened the cartons that they had purchased on their way back. Penelope, after hanging up the dresses safely in the wardrobe trudged back through into the living room, sinking into the furniture beside her friends.

"Garcia?" Emily sang sweetly "is that invitation of your bar still open?"

Penelope raised her eyebrows at her friend before standing up once more "why of course my love, Jayje you want some too?"

J.J. smiled "I shouldn't but one glass won't hurt!"

Within minutes there was a buzzing that came from door, indicating someone wanted to be let into the apartment.

"Em you're closest, get the door it'll be Hotch and the boys" Garcia called from the kitchen. As she brought through a bottle of red wine and three glasses for them to have whilst eating their Chinese, Emily reluctantly got up off the couch and pressed the button to let them come up to the apartment and opened the door slightly.

"Mommy!" the three year old's voice cried from the doorway as he spotted his mother in front of the television

"Hey baby" J.J. smiled pulling her son into her arms "did you have fun today?" he nodded excitedly in response "are you going to show me how smart you look in your new suit?" he nodded again "ok I'll help you and Jack get ready to show Auntie Penelope how great you're going to look at her wedding" she said holding his hand before taking the suits from Hotch and escorting the boys to the bedroom.

"We didn't know if you'd eaten so we bought you some food and the boys kids meals just in case" Penelope informed Hotch handing him a well-needed glass of wine.

"Great" he said sitting down beside Emily "we haven't eaten for hours, I'd forgotten how much effort went into finding a suit for your wedding"

Emily smiled "how's Reid taking his role as best man?"

"He's...coping" Hotch replied with a small smile "he'll be fine, I think Dave is helping him"

"You won't be saying that when you end up at a Star Trek convention on Wednesday night!" Penelope cried coming out of the kitchen giving Hotch his food.

"Thanks, I'm trying not to think about that!"

"Tada!" came a small voice from the bedroom ten minutes later, a huge grin spread across Penelope's face as the two boys came out in their little suits, they were adorable. She knelt down and held both their hands.

"I don't think I could find better page boys if I searched the whole world, you two look so smart" they grinned in response and she pulled them into a close embrace "now go and get changed quickly and then you can choose a movie for us to watch while we eat!" They both gave a quick cheer before hurrying back towards J.J. to get dressed.

* * *

Just after eight o'clock Toy Story 3's end credits started scrolling and everyone but the little boys were fast asleep. Emily had opted to sit on the floor with the boys as there was not enough room on the sofa and was now curled up slightly by her friends' feet. J.J. had her head rested on her hand, leaning on the arm of the soft furnished coach whilst Garcia was using her shoulder as a pillow and light snores came from Hotch as he had his arms folded with his head resting lazily on his chest.

Jack quietly stood up and gently shook his father, "Dad, Toy Story's finished"

"Mmhm" Hotch mumbled rubbing his eyes and remembering where he was.

"Mommy" Henry said tapping his mother's shoulder, mimicking his older friend's actions.

J.J. opened her eyes slowly "yes baby?" she replied sleepily.

"It's finished" he said pointing to the screen.

"Ok baby, we're going home now. Garcie?" she nudged her friend from beside her.

"Yes, I'm awake!" she cried sitting up and straightening her glasses which had fallen slightly down her face whilst she was asleep.

"We're going to go now" she said picking up Henry "I'll speak to you tomorrow, thanks for today" giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek.

Penelope stood up to bid farewell to her friends "anytime, love you Jayje. Bye little man" kissing Henry's forehead and he waved his little hand as they left.

"We'd better be going too, it's almost your bedtime buddy" Hotch smiled at Jack

"Of course" said Garcia walking towards the door

"Will she alright?" he said motioning towards Emily who was still fast asleep on the floor

Penelope smiled "she looks so peaceful and in such a deep sleep I'd hate to wake her, I'll just let her stay over" she paused and took a deep breath before continuing to speak, "er Hotch I've been wanting to ask you, I hope you don't think this is too forward, but I couldn't think of anyone better, cause you've been amazing to me for the last six years, when I was shot, when I wanted to become the liaison, even when I've been my most inappropriate you've always stuck by me" she babbled as she tended to do when she was nervous. "So what I wanted to ask was, will you walk me down the aisle?"

Hotch stared at her for a moment "would you not prefer it to be a family member? One of your brothers?"

Penelope gave a weak smile "I've barely spoken to any of my family in years, I don't even know if any of them will come to the wedding. With my brothers being older and not having anything in common with me we were never really close, and after my parents were killed, I know they blamed me, they said they didn't but I could tell. But I don't care, the team has been my family for the last eight years and it's been the best time of my life"

He put his hand on her shoulder "I'd be honoured to walk you down the aisle Penelope" she beamed at him before turning to Jack who'd been waiting patiently.

"Now, you're going to have to teach your Daddy how to walk down the aisle properly, can you do that?" he nodded at her and gave her a hug, "now go home and get some sleep my handsome page boy, it's your job to look after little Henry and now your Dad too, it's a big responsibility and you'll need all your strength"

"Night Penelope" he said taking his Dad's hand as he opened the door.

"Goodnight Angel" she replied.

"I'll see you on Monday" called Hotch as they began to walk down the hall.

"Goodnight sir" she said out of habit. Penelope closed the door feeling happy and relieved that Hotch had agreed to play a further part in her wedding. She scanned the room and noticed all the empty takeaway cartons and used wine glasses but decided she would clean them in the morning, a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her after remembering her sleep had been cut short. Her eyes finally fell on Emily curled up on the soft carpet in front of the television which was now showing the title menu of the DVD. Garcia quickly retrieved a spare blanket from her room and placed it over her gently and then switched the television off before kissing her friend's head softly. It was only as she turned the lights off that she noticed her vision had become blurry because she was crying, this would be the last time Emily Prentiss would fall asleep on her living room floor, each minute she spent with her was precious as there was only one week left before she left them and moved halfway around the world. Penelope held her chest, it was the same tight pain she has felt back at the hospital when J.J. had told them she had died, this time they had a second chance with her, a chance to say goodbye properly, make more memories and she was not going to waste it.


	4. Chapter 4

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Four**

A/N - Thank you for your reviews, favourites and follows! Please feel free to message me or review if there's anything you think should be added or you want more of, or on the other hand anything you're particularly enjoying about the stories, I love to hear feedback and I respect the opinions of my readers so let me know!

* * *

**Sunday 7.07am - 5 days to go...**

"Garcia?" called the croaky voice of Emily Prentiss as she stood up wearily shaking the blanket off her body, realising that she had slept all night, fully clothed on the floor. She sat down on the couch behind her and rubbed her shoulders gingerly, sleeping on the hard floor had made her incredibly stiff. She looked at her phone and noted that she had slept for almost twelve hours, 'shopping must really tire you out' she thought.

She groaned silently as she knew Garcia was not a morning person and would not appreciate her waking her up at this time in the morning. Running her fingers through her hair she quietly turned on the television but soon turned it off again after flicking through the channels and seeing that there was nothing of any interest on. After thinking of something constructive to do, Emily pulled out the to do list out of her handbag which J.J. had photocopied for her and decided to see what she could arrange for the big day.

After browsing the Internet on her phone for over two hours she found a reasonable quote on a caterer and noted down his details as well several options for entertainment and booked a premiere suite in one of the best hotels in their nation's capital which came complete with spa treatments for the bachelorette party. Overall when Garcia finally crawled out of bed at 10.30am Emily was pretty proud of herself.

"Morning Em, sleep ok?" she yawned heading towards the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

"Well I slept fine but seeing as I was on the floor the aftermath isn't too great!" she called "I've just made a fresh pot by the way" she added.

"Thanks" she said bringing her mug through and sitting besides her friend "what have you been up to?"

"Fulfilling my maid of honour duties by getting you quotes for caterers and entertainment, you look through these and call Morgan, I've just got to call J.J. and see if she's up yet" she said handing her a piece of paper with her notes scrawled all over it.

Penelope took the paper and glanced over it, "why?" she asked curiously.

Emily rolled her eyes as she stood up "Garcia please get a dictionary and look up the definition of surprise"

As her friend went into the bedroom to make her mysterious phone call, Penelope grumbled as she read through the notes, she had to admit Emily had done amazingly with her Sunday morning research but she hated not knowing everything.

Just as she was about to call her fiancé, her phone rang clear.

She smiled as she pressed answer, "we have a psychic connection my sweet"

"Tell me something I don't know Baby Girl, sleep well?"

"Yes thank you my love, I ended up having a Chinese with the girls and then Hotch, Jack and Henry joined us so then we watched Toy Story 3 and the boys were the only ones who could stay awake"

"Sounds like you had a good night, wish I'd been there, did you like the suits?"

"I couldn't have picked better myself, they're so handsome!"

Even through the phone Penelope could tell that Morgan was feeling proud for getting them right, "I'm glad you liked them"

"Emily fell asleep on the floor so she stayed over and this morning she did research on caterers and entertainment, I'll send you the information now and then you can let me know what you think"

"I need to see you though"

"Come over after lunch and we can discuss these"

"Is that all?"

"Well sugar that's up to you"

"See you soon Momma" he laughed and hung up.

Moments later Emily came back in looking victorious, "I've got to go meet J.J. but thank you for last night, I'll see you tomorrow" she said giving her a hug.

Penelope waved as she watched her friend leave "ciao!"

* * *

After getting dressed and ready, it seemed as if no time had passed before Derek Morgan was walking through her door. Penelope stood with her hands on her hips and cocked her eyebrow.

"I thought that key was just for emergencies Mr Morgan" she teased keeping her face serious.

He walked towards her slowly "well I think this is an emergency, cause sweetness I'm dead without you"

"Aw baby" she cooed sarcastically patting his cheek "how did you ever survive before last week?"

He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and pulled her close "I didn't" he whispered before kissing her passionately. She closed her eyes, he was the best kisser but unfortunately they had business to attend to first.

She pulled away reluctantly "I'm sorry Hot Stuff but we've got a wedding to organise"

He groaned and continued to kiss her neck "not now"

She was almost swayed but snapped out of it "no! We need to get this done, we're getting married on Friday!" she cried pushing him away.

He rolled his eyes "fine! I'll get us some drinks and snacks"

She beamed at him and kissed him on the lips quickly before going back to the couch to organise hers and Emily's notes "I'm liking this partnership already, I've already got you so well trained" she laughed.

"Oh Baby Girl" he called from the kitchen "you are my kryptonite, my Achilles heel, I will here be to please you for the rest of my life"

"Is that a promise?" she asked raising her eyebrows as he sat beside her placing bowls of various salty foods on the table.

"Oh hell yeah!" he cried wrapping his arm around her "it's me and you Baby, and I cannot wait to make you mine in just five short days"

"And getting shorter!" she exclaimed handing the paper to him "so which of caterers did you like the look of?"

Morgan shrugged passively, he had glanced over the notes that she had emailed him but as long as they served him something that he would eat he didn't have much preference.

Garcia sighed before pulling her laptop onto her knee, "you may be well trained for food collection dearest Derek but wedding planner of the year sadly you are not"

He smiled and leant back lazily, "I have faith that whatever you choose will be fine, I wouldn't care if we got married in a cardboard box!"

Looking from her screen she looked at him "yeah and that is why you have now taken a backseat in the organisation role of this wedding!" she scoffed shaking her head.

"So I should just turn up on Friday then?" he grinned

Penelope continued to type rapidly, "basically" she replied without taking her eyes from the screen. Several minutes later the typing ceased, "done!" she announced closing the lid of her laptop.

Morgan put his hand to her cheek and stroked it gently before tucking her soft blonde hair behind her ear "so genius, we've got ourselves a wedding then?"

"We certainly do" she smiled broadly letting her fingers interlock with his, her heart fluttering at his touch. Morgan held his arm out as an invitation for her to cuddle up to him which she gladly accepted. Garcia could not help but think it was as if someone had written this scene into one of the many romantic movies that she used to cry over and long for herself, now it was her turn to have her prince. As she lay against Derek's strong, perfectly sculpted body she could not believe that she could ever feel any happier, and what sourced her happiness more than anything was that this would be her reality for the rest of their lives.


	5. Chapter 5

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Five**

A/N - thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites, as I've said before and will undoubtedly say again, they mean so much to me so they are much appreciated! These first few chapters are just building up to the wedding with all the organisation, but things are going to get more exciting the closer they get...

* * *

**Monday 8.30am - 4 days to go...**

As Garcia stepped of the elevator into BAU she smiled, although her family were each at their own desks in the bullpen none of them had their heads in their work. Even before their extended stay in Alaska Hotch had informed Strauss that the team would be suspending taking any new cases until after Prentiss had left. At first she had had her doubts but soon realised that to expect the team to focus their full attention on a case would be impossible as they were about to lose one of their members, so catching up on paperwork and reports was supposed to be occupying the team's time whilst at work.

Morgan spied his love through the window of his office, he beamed at the sight of her, "hey baby" he called coming out of his office, jogging towards her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Hey yourself" she replied placing her arms around his neck and kissing him softly.

"Pur-lease! Get a room!" called Emily from her desk with a smile on her face

Penelope grinned turning to face her friend with her arms still resting on his strong shoulders, "who needs a room? I have a lair"

Derek raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head slightly "you're crazy Momma"

"You wouldn't have it any other way!" she laughed.

He playful tapped her nose with his index finger "you got that right"

At that moment Rossi and Hotch emerged from the Unit Chief's office "can we please at least look like we do some work around here?" Hotch said seriously but with a ghost of a smile on his face, before retreating back into his office. Rossi however, gave a joyful laugh "you heard the man, get on with it!"

"Hey Rossi, do you have time to look over my speech?" Reid called across the room frowning at the index cards he was holding.

The older man rolled his eyes, "first Hotch, now you, is no man capable of writing a speech anymore?!"

"While your at it you may as well look at mine!" Morgan laughed his arm still tightly around his fiancé.

"Make no mistake, I will hit you" Rossi called across the room as he sat beside a very troubled looking Reid.

J.J., who had just entered the room walked over to the couple "do I even want to know what's going on?"

"Probably not" Penelope replied giving her friend a smile.

"Thought so, did anything exciting happen after we left on Saturday? Henry couldn't stop talking about what a great time he had, he can't wait for the wedding!"

Garcia smiled at the thought of her Godson, "the wedding won't be complete without him! And sadly no, unless you call Hotch and Jack leaving and me going to bed leaving Emily asleep on my living room floor exciting"

"Hey speaking of Hotch" Morgan stated turning to her "how come Rossi said he was helping him with a speech?"

"Oh yeah I was going to tell you, I asked Hotch to walk me down the aisle and I guess he's making the 'father of the bride' speech too" she explained.

Morgan nodded "I'm glad you chose him, it'll mean a lot to him, even if he doesn't show it"

"I know" she smiled and glanced up at the clock "I'll have to love you and leave you sweet cheeks, I have a date with a swivel chair and about 20 monitors" she cried and kissed him quickly before dashing off down the hall.

J.J. laughed "Morgan, you are one lucky man. My girl, she is one of a kind!"

"Oh I know!" he exclaimed before heading back towards his office.

* * *

Penelope tapped her pen rhythmically against her desk and hummed tunelessly to herself. She had felt so happy since Derek became hers that nothing could ever pull her down from her cloud nine. Whilst she did have work on one screen, the rest were filled with honeymoon deals, beauticians, first dance songs and a website on where to begin on writing your vows. She was so engrossed that she failed to notice the grown man creeping through her door later that afternoon, he placed his large, strong hands over her eyes and bent over to kiss her.

"I think I could get used to this greeting mon forte prince" she beamed spinning her chair 180 degrees to face him.

He grinned back "damn Baby Girl, you are so sexy when you speak French"

"Ah merci! Sometimes I think I should try and learn it fluently but then I think, I speak franglais so well, why ruin a good thing?" she said still smiling up at him.

Morgan leant over her shoulder and looked at the screens, "you don't need to be worrying about a honeymoon sweetness, I've got that one covered!"

She turned to him, her eyes wide with excitement behind her orange-rimmed spectacles, "where are we going?" she asked sweetly.

He shook his head firmly, "oh no, that you will have to wait and see"

Her smile soon disappeared as her eyes narrowed, "don't make me hack your bank account details" she threatened tapping her fluffy pink pen on his shoulder.

He closed his eyes in despair, "we really need to have a discussion about privacy issues, I don't see 'I vow not to access any of my husbands personal accounts' on that website of yours!"

Garcia wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him down to her level "o-k" she sighed "I promise not pry into your personal accounts, I'm sorry"

Derek stroked her cheek softly, "I can never be mad at you woman, I love you too much"

"Well lucky for you the feeling is reciprocated, always has, always will" she said kissing him once more, their kisses were so tender but they were filled with so much love and passion it was unable to be controlled.

Morgan reluctantly pulled away, "I'm sorry, I've got to get back up to work before they send a search party down here"

She looked at him with sad eyes as he lingered in the doorway and she waved slowly "goodbye my love, not for long shall we be parted"

"Oh" he said turning back "before I forget, we've had queries about wedding presents, I don't care, pick a shop that sells decent plates and then circulate the list"

Penelope laughed, "consider it done Angelfish, I love you"

He winked at her "I love you too", Derek took one last look at his beautiful fiancé, so happy and content sitting within the comfort of the four walls of her office with the company of her technology, he knew no-one would ever compare, he could never love anyone else as much as he loved his Baby Girl.


	6. Chapter 6

**When Two Became One**  
**Chapter Six**

A/N - Sorry this one has taken awhile, but it is a bit longer than usual and as ever thank you for your continued support!

* * *

**Wednesday 4.42pm - 2 days to go...**

"Hotch please can we leave now?" begged J.J. as she and Emily stood in Hotch's office desperately attempting to leave work early in order to get to their hotel in D.C. for their girls night out to celebrate Garcia's final days as being a single woman.

"If we don't go now we'll miss our spa reservations and we've put in so much effort to make it a surprise for her" Emily added

Hotch stared at the two women blankly and then sighed and shook his head slightly "you had better go before I change my mind, you are not in the mindset to be productive here anyway"

"Thank you! Shouldn't you be leaving for Reid's out of control party soon?" Emily teased as they began to leave.

Hotch shook his head, "as far as I know we're just staying local and we're not meeting until nine" he said as he remained seated at his desk as they reached the door, "have fun but don't get too drunk, it's your last day tomorrow I wouldn't want a repeat of the triathlon" they smiled at him remembering the horrific state they were in after going salsa dancing the day before watching their Unit Chief complete the FBI triathlon, "oh and don't forget the meal tomorrow night, Barnitos, 7 o'clock"

"We won't" replied J.J. "see you tomorrow" and with that the party had begun, the two women practically skipped through the bullpen, much to the annoyance of the male members of the team, to collect their bride to be. As they reached Garcia's office Emily knocked enthusiastically.

"Enter all who are worthy" she called and swivelled round on her chair as they walked through the door "why are you two grinning like Cheshire cats?" she asked narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

The women looked at each and smiled "we can do this the easy way or the hard way Garcia" Emily sang.

J.J. echoed her friend's tone of voice, "come with us and no one gets hurt"

"I like to know where I'm going thank you very much" she said folding her arms across her chest, still in her seating position.

"She has opted for the hard way" Emily said to her friend.

J.J. nodded, "shame, we had hoped it wouldn't come to this but..." with that she quickly pulled out a scarf from behind her back and blindfolded her friend whilst Emily used her handcuffs to bind her hands.

"This is against my human rights! You cannot do this to me!" Garcia cried as the two women each grabbed an arm and pulled Penelope to her feet.

"It is for your own benefit silly girl" J.J. explained pulling her out of the door as Garcia continued to dig her heels into the ground.

Morgan looked out of the window of his office at the sound of the commotion, "what the hell is going on?" he shouted across the room seeing his girl in distress.

"Derek?!" Penelope replied hearing the familiar voice "is that you?"

"I'm here Baby" he called jogging over to the women to get an explanation.

"Calm down Morgan, this is her bachelorette surprise but she can't handle surprises so we're helping her" Emily smiled

Morgan raised his eyebrows, "by blindfolding and handcuffing her?"

J.J. shrugged and smiled, "it seemed the easiest way at the time, now give your fiancé a kiss because we really need to go"

Penelope pouted at him but he shook his head, "don't give me that face Baby Girl, they're doing this for you, have a wonderful night and I will see you tomorrow, I love you" he kissed her softly.

She sighed in defeat, "you too Hot Stuff"

"Bye!" J.J. called as the three of them left down the elevator.

Morgan laughed and shook his head, it made him wonder what on earth Reid and Rossi had planned for him tonight.

* * *

After what seemed like forever in the darkness, the car finally stopped and Garcia could only assume they'd reached their destination, it was the second time in a week that she had been blindfolded for surprise purposes but the experience wasn't becoming anymore enjoyable. She couldn't really complain, they had taken the handcuffs off after making her promise she wouldn't take the blindfold off until they told her too and they had put on a playlist of all her favourite songs.

"Are we here? Wherever here is" Penelope called out to the unknown before she heard car doors open and shut. She was soon helped out of the car and escorted by her friends once more.

"Oh yeah, we're here" Emily said with slight shock as she handed the car keys to a young, smiling boy whilst J.J. carried their bags out of the back of the car and they walked through the glass doors into the incredible lobby. Their heels clicked loudly across the beautiful wooden, polished floor, as they looked upwards there was a great, glass chandelier and in the centre there was a large water feature.

"Are you ready for your surprise Garcie?" J.J. almost squealed, unable to contain her excitement.

She nodded enthusiastically in response and slowly removed her blindfold, she gasped and had to take a step back. It was so beautiful, she couldn't believe how posh it was, it must have been ridiculously expensive.

"You guys- you're the best" she cried giving them a huge hug.

Emily laughed, "I take it you like it then, worth all the hastle?"

"Yes, yes! I'm sorry for being so stupid"

"You should be" J.J. laughed punching her arm lightly "come on we need to check in"

Penelope looked bewildered "I don't have any of my things with me"

Emily smiled "we used Morgan's 'emergency' key to go to your apartment and pack you a bag this morning, we hope it's alright"

She put her arm around her friend's shoulder lazily as they walked towards the shiny counter "I'm sure it'll be fine"

"Hi welcome to Greentops Hotel, how can I help you?" said a young woman with a fake grin plastered on her face.

Emily smiled at the woman, "hello, my name is Emily Prentiss, I have a room booked for tonight"

"Prentiss..." the woman typed furiously "ah yes" she said after a few minutes but then frowned slightly "it says here you upgraded to the penthouse suite yesterday"

J.J. mirrored the woman's frown, "there must be some mista-"

"No mistake, yes that's us we paid for the penthouse" Emily interjected quickly as Garcia gaped at J.J. speechless.

The fake smile reappeared on the woman's face "excellent, here are your room keys, will you be requiring anything else?"

"No that'll be all for now thank you" J.J. replied as they walked away.

"Penthouse?" Penelope squeaked anxiously "I'm grateful for all this really but this is too much and far too expensive"

"I'll decide what's too expensive, it's my money and I'll decide what I do with it, it's not as if I've got anyone else to share it with" Emily retaliated

Garcia began to argue but her friend put a finger onto her painted lips "not. Another. Word, or I'll be tying that scarf around your mouth, ok?"

She nodded weakly and the three friends walked towards the elevators, once inside they saw a special button for the penthouse which involved them having to enter their room key. J.J. grinned at her friend's shocked expression, she too couldn't believe Emily had gotten them a penthouse but she was more excited than anything else. The excitement hit all of them as they stepped through the door of their 'room'. There was a large lounge area with sofas and a flat screen TV and a kitchenette in the corner and there were four doors for their individual rooms plus the bathroom.

Garcia was speechless and could barely walk inside "this is the most incredible room I've ever been in" she sighed placing her handbag on the coffee table.

"I'll second that" agreed J.J. looking around in awe.

"If I thought you were the best before, you are definitely the best now" Penelope grinned sitting on the soft furnished couch.

"Oh and it gets better, hurry up and get settled" Emily glanced at her watch "surprise number two is almost ready"

Penelope's head snapped towards her friend "there's more?" she whispered.

"If you hurry up, you'll find out!"

At that Garcia hurried towards the immaculate bathroom to freshen up. J.J. was already lounged on the sofa with the TV remote in her hand, with her television time usually consisting of children's programmes, she was not going to neglect this opportunity "ok don't be long, we've got to be down there in twenty minutes"

Penelope grumbled to herself as she realised she only had lipstick in her handbag and she had no time to rummage through her suitcase to see which of her lotions and potions her friends had packed. She looked in the mirror and thought hard about all the effort her friends must have gone to to organise this amazing evening for her, she was so lucky to have them and she needed to make it up to them some how. She gave herself a confident smile and anticipation overwhelmed her as she could not wait to know what was planned next.

After splashing water on her face and giving herself a fresh squirt of perfume she left the bathroom "anything good on?" she asked J.J. seeing her lying on the couch.

"No" she sighed irritably "the one time I'm in control of the TV and there's nothing on" she sat up to face her friend.

Emily stood up, "there'll be plenty of relaxing time available later, we've got to go now" she called heading out of the door. They followed her back down the elevator to a scented room with women in sparklingly white jackets and pants, with the same forced smile plastered on her face as the woman from the lobby.

"You must be the Prentiss party" said the woman behind the desk consulting her appointment list.

Emily smiled and nodded, "that's us"

"If you'd like to go through the door on your right you'll find everything you need to get changed into before your treatments"

"Thank you" J.J. said as Emily began to head through the door, Penelope held their arms back before they entered.

She stared at them wide-eyed, "you booked us spa treatments?"

Her two friends grinned at her, "prepare to become completely relaxed Penelope!" J.J. replied softly.

Penelope put her arms around her friend's necks either side of her "you know, I think this is going to be a night we will never forget!"

* * *

It was only as Morgan pulled up outside the unfamiliar bar across town that the realisation hit him. Not that he was getting married, because he'd been ready for that for eight years, but he'd never socialised with these men outside of work alone before. In fact, since leaving Chicago he had barely socialised at all, most of his other friends were back home so he went for drinks with them once a year when he he went home for his mother's birthday but with leaving on cases majority of the time there wasn't that much time for himself. This made him slightly anxious, it was easy for Penelope, she had always been close with the girls, especially J.J. and more than once they had been out together drinking or salsa dancing, so he was confident she would have a brilliant bachelorette party, he on the other hand was unsure.

He shook his head, he needed to be optimistic or it would ruin his evening so picking up his jacket from the backseat he locked his car and walked slowly into the bar.

"About time!" the voice of Rossi boomed across the room as soon as he was spotted by his party.

Morgan frowned and glanced at his watch as he walked over to the table the agents had already occupied "it's 9.01"

"Exactly!" Reid exclaimed "you're a minute late, we all managed to get here on time"

Hotch gave a rare smile "ignore them Morgan, sit down" pushing a beer across the table in his direction.

"Thanks" he said sliding onto a bar stool beside Reid "so what's the plan for tonight?"

"Well first we're going to-" Reid began before he was cut off by Rossi holding his hand to silence him.

"We've got it under control"

Morgan raised his eyebrows "and I should be satisfied with that?" he asked before sipping his beer.

"I am a man with quite a bit of experience of bachelor parties so yes you should" Rossi answered.

"Did you know the bachelor party-"

This time it was Morgan's turn to hold his hand up to silence his friend, "Reid" he interrupted "I know it'll be difficult for you but can this be a fact free evening man?"

"O-k" Reid frowned causing the other men to laugh.

After a couple of drinks each, the men began to loosen up, Morgan and Rossi more so than the other two. It was revealed that they were going bar hopping, starting with one of Morgan's favourite downtown. Derek's worries soon began to subside, despite not spending much time with the men socially he realised that he spent majority of his life for the last eight years with them and they were as good as family to him. The night ahead of them looked promising and would definitely give them memories that he could treasure as he began a new and long-awaited chapter in his life with the woman he loved.


	7. Chapter 7

**When Two Becomes One**  
**Chapter Seven**

A/N - Well thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites, here is where life gets exciting. This is one of my favourite chapters that I've written so far, I suppose it's because I can see this actually happening, I don't know maybe I'm just weird like that... anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Thursday 8.58am - 1 day to go...**

Erin Strauss glanced through the window of Aaron Hotchner's office at the bullpen below. They had had a meeting half an hour earlier to discuss Emily Prentiss' replacement in the BAU team but he had failed to show. She frowned as she looked at the clock and briskly strutted out of the door before placing her hands on the railings.

"Does someone care to tell me where my team is?" she called out causing the few people that occupied the room to turn and look in her direction before quickly turning and avoiding eye contact. "You, Anderson" she cried staying in her same position.

Agent Anderson turned slowly towards her "me ma'am?"

"Yes you, have you heard from any of the BAU team today? As it appears that none of them are here and as far as I am aware it is only tomorrow that they have taken off for personal time" she asked sharply.

Anderson shuffled awkwardly as he had heard rumours of it being Morgan's bachelor and Garcia's bachelorette party the previous evening but he couldn't believe that seven FBI agents would be in such a state that they couldn't come into work, especially the likes of Aaron Hotchner.

Strauss put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes slightly "I'm waiting Anderson"

"Erm, I haven't heard from them ma'am" he stammered nervously.

"But you know a reason why they might not be here" she stated blandly.

"No...well yes...maybe..."

She rolled her eyes, "oh for God's sake, spit it out!"

"I think it was Agent Morgan and Penelope Garcia's bachelor and bachelorette parties last night but I heard Agent Hotchner tell Agents Jareau and Prentiss that they must be in today" he replied quickly.

Strauss thought momentarily as she tapped her fingers rhythmically on the metal, "so that leaves us with the question, where are they now?"

* * *

It was a bright light that woke Penelope from a deep sleep but she refused to opened her eyes. She felt the results of the previous night as soon as she gained consciousness and was not in any hurry to worsen the pain.

Suddenly she heard thought she heard birds, she shook it off, they were on the top floor of the hotel how could she hear birds. The tweeting was unmistakeable the second time and reluctantly she opened her eyes.

Her heart stopped in shock.

When Penelope opened her eyes what she saw was trees, hundreds and hundreds of trees. There was no denying, she was in a forest. Panic overwhelmed her and she was about to run for help when she realised J.J. was leaning on her shoulder and Emily was curled up by her feet. This caused her panic to subside slightly as she knew she was no longer alone, but thousands of questions were running through her head: where were they? How did they get there? And why couldn't she remember a damn thing?!

Penelope thought carefully about the previous night, after being pampered at the spa, they had enjoyed a lovely meal at the restaurant downstairs, she remembered thinking this time just socialised with her friends, doing things that are completely unrelated to work made her realise how much she loved spending time with them. She scrambled in her bag which was lying beside her for her phone, she had to call Derek, no matter what state he was in, this was an emergency. Garcia let out a frustrated cry as her phone read 'no service', it had been hours since she had last spoken to her fiancé and she missed him terribly.

She needed answers and she knew she wasn't going to get them alone, she nudged her friend "Jayje! We've got a situation"

J.J. groaned as she awoke, obviously in as much pain as her friend, she slowly opened her eyes and she sat up and looked right around, "where are we?" she whispered slowly.

"I don't know" Penelope replied.

"But- but we were out last night, how- why aren't we at the penthouse?" she stammered trying to make sense of what has happened.

All Penelope could do was shake her head, she didn't know what else to say because she was just as confused as her friend.

"I-I need to call Will, I need to tell him I'm ok, I should have called this morning to make sure we got back to the hotel..." she trailed off.

"No service I've tried" she answered

J.J. ran her fingers through her soft blonde hair pushing it out of her face, "Emily will know what to do, we just need to work out what happened last night, we are three strong FBI agents, we can get through this" she said not as confidently as the words sounded "Emily, wake up!" she cried pushing her friend.

"I'm awake!" she exclaimed sitting up as bits of twigs fell out of her hair, mirroring her two friends before her she looked around as worry set on her face "what are we doing here? Is this a forest?"

J.J. nodded "that's what we're trying to figure out, we need to retrace our steps from last night"

"I swear to God, if this is some kind of joke" she groaned clutching her head, "why do I feel like we're in a scene from the Hangover?!" Emily asked wearily, feeling just as rough as the other two women "ok... let's start at the beginning, we left the hotel around nine..."

_Laughing loudly at nothing in particular, the three women stepped out of the taxi and into the nearest bar. It was loud, there were strobe lights blazing and music blaring. The room was quite busy for a Wednesday night but they were able to get three seats at the bar._

_"Three vodka shots please darling" Garcia beamed at the barman._

_He returned the grin "coming right up, gorgeous"_

_"Ooh Morgan's got competition" Emily laughed nudging her friend_

_"Technically, a bachelorette party is to celebrate the last days of being a single girl"_

_"Who are you, Reid?" J.J. cried over the music_

_Penelope shrugged as the man returned with the drinks, "that'll be $15" Emily pulled a face at her friends at hearing the price and was about to reach into her bag when a hand in front of her stopped her in her tracks._

_"I'll get these" said a man with a deep Scottish accent holding out his wallet._

_"No really we're fi-" J.J. began._

_"I insist, what sort of a man would I be if I didn't buy three beautiful ladies a drink?" he handed the barman a twenty dollar note "my name's Chris, and you are?"_

_"Married" J.J. replied with a smile._

_"Engaged" Penelope said with the same cheery tone as her friend._

_"Not" Emily replied, she held out her hand and smiled "I'm Emily and dumb and dumber are J.J. and Garcia" at the introduction they smiled and waved._

_"Great, so what brings you ladies out this evening?"_

_Both J.J. and Emily pointed at Garcia "bachelorette party"_

_He chuckled "ah the three hens" he was met with quizzical looks "we call them hen parties back home"_

_"And where is home?" Penelope asked collecting her drink from the bar "obviously Scotland" she said quickly so not to sound stupid "but whereabouts?"_

_"I'm from Edinburgh but I live in London and travel around with work"_

_"Oh Emily is moving to London on Saturday!" Garcia squealed excitedly before her friend could stop her._

_Chris looked at her and smiled "oh really?"_

_"Yeah, new job" she replied giving a small shrug looking away shyly._

_"That's great" he looked at his watch "I've got to be boring and go, I've got work in the morning" he pulled out his wallet and handed Emily his business card "that's my mobile number, if you want someone to show you around then give me a call, I'll be home on Monday" then he pulled a $10 note out "the next ones are on me ladies, it was nice meeting you" he looked directly at Emily before leaving._

Emily put her hand in her pocket and felt the small card, she pulled it out and smiled at it sadly in the morning sun.

"You gonna call him?" Penelope asked giving her a playful nudge

"Hmm" she mused sarcastically "seeing as we're stuck in a forest in God only knows where with no reception, I don't think now's the best time" she saw her friend's face crumble slightly "I'm sorry Garcia, I know you're just trying to stay positive, I'm just hungover and grumpy!" she declared miserably putting her arm around her "no, I'm not going to call him, I'm about to run the London Interpol, now is not a great time to be getting involved romantically" she said quietly tossing the card to the ground.

"No" Penelope replied slowly picking the card up and holding it out "but you are about to run the London Interpol, I think knowing someone, maybe even having a friend who isn't thousands of miles away is a good thing"

Emily took the card and smiled again, seeing Chris' perfect face in her mind "maybe"

* * *

When Derek Morgan awoke to a dark room he had every reason to believe he was in his own home. It wasn't until he realised that there was another person in the bed beside him that he began to think otherwise. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness but once they had he deduced that he was in hotel room, why or where was still unknown to him.

As he moved to get up he ached all over, it was evident he was not a young man who didn't get hangovers any longer. Therefore he continued to lay there and try to think what had happened last night, they had bar hopped for a while before taking a fancy to one downtown and he had started some drinking games with Reid because he'd never seen him drunk and then in the end all four men had joined in and then...

What had happened after that? Everything was blank between the drinking games and waking up in a random hotel room.

"Eurgh" a voice beside him groaned.

Morgan sat up and switched on the lamp next to the bed "Reid?!" he exclaimed "man, what the hell happened?"

Reid sat up slowly and ran his fingers through his hair gingerly "I- I don't know..."

"Don't know? Don't know?! You have an eidetic memory and you don't know!" he cried.

"My memory is for the majority things I read not occurrences in my life though I do mainly remember those vividly too however I think the excessive amount of alcohol in my system affected my usual brain function" he replied calmly.

Morgan couldn't believe it, if the smartest person he knew didn't have a clue what was going on, who did?

"Hey where's Hotch and Rossi?" Reid asked standing up realising he was still fully clothed.

"You mean you don't know that either? What is the last thing you remember?"

"We were at that bar where we all first met up and then we went to the one with the purple cocktails and then the one with the stripper..." Morgan smiled briefly, he'd forgotten about that "...and then the last one where we played those games with the drinks and then I remember us travelling somewhere and seeing bright lights and then we woke up here, where is here?"

"That's what I'd like to know" he stood and walked over to the desk with some leaflets on it, "hey what time is it?"

Reid glanced at his watch "9.13am, we're meant to be in work today!" his face horror-stricken.

"We've got bigger problems" he said quietly turning to face his friend holding the hotel's leaflet "we're in New York!"


	8. Chapter 8

**When Two Became One**  
**Chapter Eight**

A/N - Thank you for the lovely reviews, favourites and follows! Time to carry on with the morning after the night before... enjoy!

* * *

"How did this happen? It would've taken at least five hours to get here no matter how we travelled and I'm sure it was about 11.00pm when we were at that last bar in Quantico so that gives us a window of five hours to get here" Morgan stated trying to bring some logic into the situation, "Reid, our best bet right now is to find Hotch and Rossi cause us sitting in here isn't doing us any favours"

"Maybe we should go down to the lobby and ask if either if them have a room checked in" Reid suggested.

Morgan nodded as he began walking to the door, "good idea" he agreed, as they were about to leave he stopped "can you see a room key" Reid looked around the room and shook his head "right, one of us needs to stay here then or we won't be able to get back in. We also need to profile this room and go through everything that might lead us to what we did last night and where Hotch and Rossi are" Morgan stated.

Reid nodded, "ok you go down and I'll see if I can find out anything from the room"

"I won't be long, I'll also call Garcia, tell her why we're not in work and see if she can trace Hotch or Rossi's cell phone or credit card usage"

As Morgan left the room he made a mental note of the number on the door, 358, so he knew where he was coming back to. Making his way down the corridor nothing seemed familiar to him, he realised by glancing out the window how high up he was, almost on par with the Empire State Building, which he could see clearly, begging the question, how the hell did they get from Quantico to New York?

Due to the height Morgan knew he would have to take the elevator, he had been apprehensive about his usage of the machines since he and Reid got stuck in one some years ago. To make matters worse he was alone for the majority of the trip down to the lobby, only being accompanied by a French man with a briefcase for two floors. Once he had reached the ground he pulled out his phone and dialled his Penelope's number, after several minutes he frowned that was odd, straight to voicemail. He then dialled the number of her office, again no answer. Something was wrong, if she was in work she would be in her office awaiting his call and there is no way she would turn her phone off. He shook the feeling momentarily, he couldn't do anything until he found his bosses so he marched to the front desk to meet the face of a young man in a smart suit.

"Hi, can I help you sir?"

"Yeah I need to know if David Rossi or Aaron Hotchner booked a room last night"

"Ok, could you spell that please for me sir" he said his eyes not leaving his computer screen.

Morgan gritted her teeth as he became more irritated, "R-O-S-S-I and H-O-T-C-H-N-E-R"

"Thank sir" more typing on the computer "yes there was a Rossi who booked a room last night"

Morgan sighed in relief, "can you tell me what room number it was?"

The man's brow furrowed slightly, "I'm sorry that is a breech of customer confidentiality-"

Frowning himself Morgan quickly fished around in his jacket pocket before he felt his credentials, usually he would never abuse his position of authority but this was an emergency.

After scanning the cards the agent had held up near his face, the young man gave an uncertain smile, "er certainly Agent Morgan, Mr Rossi was booked in room 358"

His heart plummeted. He walked away from the desk slowly and sat on one of the soft furnished chairs before placing his head in his hands. Every time he went looking for answers he was met with more questions. Why did he and Reid wake up in a room that was booked in Rossi's name? Where were Hotch and Rossi? And why couldn't he get in touch with Penelope?

Morgan tried Hotch and Rossi's phones once more but there was still no answer, then he tried both J.J. and Prentiss and again no luck. He was beginning to think the worst of his situation so he needed to get his work head into it as if they were dealing with a case, he knew that was his only way of finding his friends.

There was only one solution he could think of, he wasn't going to like it but he knew it was his best hope of getting at least some answers. Derek reluctantly dialled the number of the last person on earth that he wanted to speak to as continued to sit in the fairly empty hotel lobby. He sighed impatiently as he waited for the call to be answered.

Just as he was about to hang up the nasal voice of a man he had loathed for four years said "technical analyst Kevin Lynch"

"Lynch, it's Morgan" he grunted

"Oh-Er Agent Morgan" he stammered "this is a surprise, how can I help you?"

"Cut the crap Lynch I just need to know if Penelope is in work"

"You're not here?"

Morgan clenched his hand trying to keep some self control as he listened to this man's idiocy, "I wouldn't be calling you if I was, now would I?!" he snapped getting more and more irritated the longer he talked to this buffoon who'd kept him and his Baby Girl apart for far too long.

"No, of course not, I haven't seen her today, I'll go and check her office now" Morgan could hear him starting to move "is everything alright?"

"That all depends on what you tell me" he replied shortly.

It was a few long minutes until Lynch spoke again "she's not in her office"

"Ok now walk to the bullpen and tell me if you see her, Prentiss, J.J., Hotch or Rossi"

Another minute passed, "no, none of them are here" he said.

Morgan sighed heavily and closed his eyes momentarily as he thought "right ok, go back to your office I need you to trace all the team's phones apart from mine and Reid's"

"I-I can't do that from my computer, I don't have any of your details to trace them, they're all on Pen's computer" he said weakly obviously feeling undermined by Morgan.

"Well get onto her computer and do it then"

He heard Lynch gasp, "oh no! I can't do that, she would never let me touch her system, not in all the time I've known her"

Morgan wished he could wring this man's neck "Lynch! If something serious happens to one of my team because of you and your incompetence I will kill you with my bare hands, is that understood?!" he hissed down the phone, refraining from roaring at him as the eyes of the man from behind the hotel desk bore into him.

The line was silent momentarily "y-yes I'll get onto it right away" more silence as he walked quickly back to Garcia's lair, Morgan could hear the familiar rapid typing on the keyboard but there was a pain in his chest as he knew it wasn't Penelope on the other end. "It says Agent Hotchner is in New York, 33rd Street, looks like a hotel" Morgan ran his hand over his head, Hotch was in the hotel, but where?

"And is Rossi there too?"

"Erm... no he appears to be on the other side of city"

Morgan knew he was running out of time, "where is Penelope?"

"I don't know, her, Agent Prentiss and Agent Jareau all have their phones off"

"Perfect, just send me Rossi's coordinates" Morgan snarled before hanging up on Lynch.

He returned to the room and sighed "the girls have all got their phones off, Rossi is halfway across town and Hotch is in the hotel somewhere!"

Reid gave a small smile in response, "I know, I've found him"

* * *

**Thursday 12.43pm - Still 1 day to go...**

"We've been walking for hours, and we're still surrounded by forest" Emily moaned collapsing against the nearest tree.

"When I chose to wear these shoes last night, I was not under the impression that I would be hiking in them, that's not what heels were invented for!" Penelope complained sitting beside her friend removing her shoes and massaging them gently.

J.J. ran her fingers through her hair before admitting defeat and also sitting down. It was her who had suggested to start walking because there must be an exit nearby as they would never have been able to get deep into the woods alone and drunk at night. "Let's be thankful it's not raining!" J.J. said sullenly "Will will be so worried by now" she added with a sigh, the women had decided they should switch our phones off soon after setting off so they didn't run out of battery by the time they reached an area with reception.

J.J. placed her hand over Garcia's "I'm sorry we've ruined your bachelorette party, we were supposed to have the best night, with loads of memories that we'd treasure forever but now we can't remember half of it and we're lost"

"Don't be silly, you haven't ruined it! Last night, from what I can remember of it, was amazing! And this, this is an adventure to prove that we three friends can survive anything, even marriage or moving halfway around the world!" she said smiling at Prentiss.

"If you burst into 'cause we're the three best friends' then consider me already on that plane!" Emily laughed as Garcia put her arm around her and hugged her close.

"See this is what we should be doing, not panicking just thinking it through like the logical ladies we are"

J.J. smiled "ok, being the logical ladies we are, let's continue with our timeline, it was about 12ish if I remember correctly when we left the 'Chris club'..."

_It was late into the night when the three friends staggered out of the bar and onto the dark main street, lit by only the signs of other nightclubs and stores that were open all night._

_"Can we go somewhere a little quieter now before we party hard some more? I'm not as young as I used to be" Garcia moaned holding her head._

_J.J. raised her hand "I second that"_

_"You bunch of old ladies" Emily snapped, "just because you've got your fiancés and your families doesn't mean you've got to be boring!" she cried and without realising it she was crying._

_"Go on, say what you really feel" J.J. shouted back, as the alcohol affecting her usual nice and caring personality._

_"You two! You are the confident ones, Garcia with your witty remarks and J.J. liaisoning with people for how many years, and now you both get the fairy tale endings well congratulations remember me when I'm thousands of miles away won't you!" she retaliated, unaware of the full blown argument that had begun in the middle of the street._

_J.J. laughed spitefully "fairy tale ending?! Are you joking? If anything I have always been jealous of you, you have no responsibilities except your job and a cat which is practically self-sufficient! I love Will and Henry of course but it is exhausting, I go straight from jetting across the country to coming home and playing with Henry because I feel guilty for leaving him and then spending time with Will and then the cycle begins again and I never stop!" she paused momentarily and composed herself, trying to gain what little self control she had left, as she realised what she had said she covered her mouth with her hand in shock, "I'm so sorry" she cried her eyes full with tears as she pushed past her friends and ran into the 24 hour cafe across the road._

_Emily grasped her head with her hands and doubled over, "why do I always ruin everything? I'm so sorry Garcia, I'm so sorry!" she cried into her hands._

_Penelope gaped at the situation, they had gone from having a laugh and a great time in the bar to World War Three in a matter of moments, "hey, shhh!" she called soothingly as she consoled her friend "we're not drunk enough for this much emotion, come on we're going to go in here, collect our dearest J.J. then we will all make up and still have a brilliant night, ok?"_

_Her friend looked up and smiled at her "what am I going to do without you Penelope Garcia?"_

_She grinned and shrugged, "alas, that is one of life's great mysteries! What does one do without their own tech goddess and problem solver extraordinaire?"_

_Leaving Emily at a booth with a large cup of coffee Penelope looked around, there was no-one there except a homeless man drinking a coffee and reading a newspaper. Following the sign for the restrooms, Penelope heard soft sobs coming from the Ladies._

_"Jayje?" she called opening the door, the sobs turned into sniffs as she entered and found her friend sitting on the floor with screwed up toilet paper around her._

_"I'm a horrible person!" she wailed miserably as fresh tears rolled down her face._

_Garcia sighed, "I may be the slightest bit drunk but I am speaking the truth when I say you are my best friend and I love you and you are most definitely not a horrible person" she said crouching down in front of her and holding her hands._

_J.J. looked up at her friend with mascara stains down her face "I am horrible, I shouldn't have said those things, I love my family so much!" she cried._

_Penelope cupped her friend's face in her hands "no one could ever doubt how much you love them, now let me clean you up" she said taking a makeup wipe out of her bag and rubbing it gently on J.J.'s face, "and ignore Emily, you both evidently confess your bottled up feelings when you're drunk, and you do it angrily!" she smiled as she applied some fresh mascara and lipgloss "there's my precious girl, now it's time to drink some more and forget our worries until tomorrow!"_

_"I'll drink to that!" J.J. agreed taking Garcia's hands to help her get up before putting her arm around her "I love you, crazy person!"_

_Penelope laughed "I've been told!"_

_As the two women emerged, Emily looked up hopefully, she stood up and opened her mouth to apologise but J.J. shook her head, "don't" she whispered and the two friends collapsed into a tight hug._

_Garica beamed at the sight, "I retract my earlier statement about wanting to go somewhere quiet, I think we all need to drink ourselves silly and party properly, because this is our last hurrah and we will make it special!" _


	9. Chapter 9

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Nine**

A/N - Sorry this chapter has taken a while but I'm off for a week so I should be able to get the story moving a bit faster, well that's the theory but the amount of work I have to do may interfere with that plan. Don't worry the wedding is coming, the problems on the lead up are just as important for our couple. As always thank you for the lovely reviews, favourites and follows!

* * *

**Thursday 1.22pm - Still 1 Day to go...**

As the memories from the previous night came flooding back to her Emily's face began to crumble. She was always the strong one and barely got emotional but this was her friend and she'd been nasty to her for no particular reason "J.J. I am so sorry! I am horrible when I'm drunk I should never have been so cruel, you two are the best friends anyone could ask for..."

J.J. quickly leant over and hugged her close, her eyes full of tears "I'm sorry too, I said some awful things that I regret, about you and my life, you might be horrible when you're drunk but I seem to throw tantrums!"

Garcia shook her head at the two of them, "I'm glad I was able to sort you out, I thought I was looking at World War Three! But honestly J.J. you should listen to your tantrums, they speak truth, no matter how dedicated you are to the job and how much you love your family, you need to make time for yourself, whether that's going out for a couple of drinks with your friends or watching what you want on tv"

Her friend smiled briefly, "why is it you're sorting out out problems when we're suppose to be treating you?"

"Because mon chere I am more amazing than words can describe" she replied with a smile "anyway we still haven't reached the end of our story, let's think back to after World War Three..."

_It was well into the early hours of the morning as the three women were dancing together in their fourth club of the night and they were considerably drunker than they were during their brawl earlier in the evening. They collapsed against the bar as the song changed, they were reluctant to leave but they knew in the backs of their minds that they had to get back to the hotel._

_"I suppose we had better head back" Emily shouted over the music, J.J. was already beginning to fall asleep on Penelope's shoulder, she nodded in agreement and they both took one of their friend's arms and pulled her outside._

_"I've had the best bachelorette party!" cried Penelope slurring her words as Emily began to ring the number of the taxi "and on Friday I'm marrying the sexiest man in the whole wide world!" she laughed still holding on to J.J. who was now snoring lightly._

_As they waited the cool night air felt heavenly on their skin as they had felt so hot inside the club. They had strayed away from the main street and there were less people on the street, it was dark and only the echoey sound of the music from the club could be heard. Ten minutes later the headlights of the cab blinded the women as it drove towards them._

_After driving for a while, no one knew what time exactly, Emily began to sober up slightly and realised they were on a country road._

_"Where are we going?" she cried causing Penelope to wake up after her falling asleep beside J.J. exhausted from the night's drama._

_The driver looked over his shoulder, "I need to make a quick detour, don't worry darling you'll be back at your hotel in no time" _

_At that moment J.J. awoke and placed her hand over her mouth "I'm going to be sick" she whispered._

_He put the brakes on in response causing the car to slow to a stop, "you can't do it in here, company policy"_

_Unfortunately J.J. was sat between her two friends and unable to exit the car quick enough, __incidentally she threw up in front of her as Penelope tried to soothe her by holding her hair back and rubbing her back._

_The driver looked back in disgust, "God, this is why I hate taking drunkards! Get out!"_

_Emily's mouth was hanging open as she __stumbled out of the car followed quickly by her friends, _"but we're in the middle of nowhere" she shouted but he was already speeding into the darkness. "Bastard!" she spat as she_ turned on her heel and stumbled towards the woods at the side of the road_. They couldn't remember how far they'd walked before they were so exhausted they couldn't go any further and collapsed in the middle of forest in the early hours of the morning.

After they had finished retelling the events of the previous night, the three women sat in silence playing it over in their minds.

"Why would he leave us?" Penelope asked dumbfounded at the man's stupidity and cruelty.

Emily shrugged, "just our luck to get the driver in the foulest mood last night"

J.J. stood up slowly "we need to keep going, we couldn't have come too much further off the road"

"But my feet!" Penelope whined glaring at her heels, J.J. pulled her to her feet and helped her put her shoes back on before they began walking again.

Garcia groaned as the sides of her shoes rubbed against her blisters "how am I supposed to walk down the aisle like this? I'll be waddling down like Donald Duck!"

"You better hurry up or you won't have an aisle to walk down!" Emily cried

This caused Garcia to stop in her tracks and grab her friends' arms "I'm getting married, tomorrow!" she declared her eyes wide with shock.

Emily looked at J.J. and raised her eyebrows, "well done Sherlock but like I said if you don't come on you won't be"

Reluctantly she carried on walking "but, it's just happened so fast and with all the rushing and organising I didn't really stop and think about it!"

"Are you having second thoughts?" J.J. asked with a concerned tone to her voice.

Garcia shook her head firmly, "no! I love Derek, I've always loved him, it just seems so surreal..."

* * *

Morgan stared bewilderedly as he saw his boss emerge wearily from the bathroom and sit on the bed, he was missing his tie and jacket and he looked rougher than either of the two men had seen him before.

"Hotch, you better know what the hell happened last night!" he cried pulled a chair to sit across from him.

Hotch looked up at him with bloodshot eyes "I need to call Strauss and explain why we're not at work and then call Beth, she's looking after Jack she'll be worried when I didn't come back last night"

"There'll be plenty of time for that in a minute, we've got bigger problems! One, we're in New York, two, Rossi is on the other side of the city somewhere and three, the girls are missing and don't have their phones on, so you better start giving us some answers so we can sort this!" he cried exasperatedly.

"I remember we were in a bar, I think it was about midnight, it was the last bar we were at in Quantico anyway. We were talking about our favourite places in the world, you said you'd always loved the excitement of cities such as Las Vegas and New York" Hotch paused as Reid groaned in response to the mention of his hometown "then Reid, you said no matter how many cases we'd had in New York you'd never been there as a tourist and enjoyed the sights so Dave said we should go and show you and come back early the next morning as it was only a train journey away. It was about five o'clock but we went to Times Square and the Empire State before coming here and Dave booked us a room, he said he would meet us here as he was going to pick up a 'fine cigar' from a 24 hour store to celebrate. Then wake up in a bathtub, fully clothed with Reid standing over me, I can't believe we were so reckless" he concluded, it was so out of character but at the time he had enjoyed doing something spontaneous instead of everything being so regimented.

Morgan frowned slightly as some images of walking around New York City earlier that morning came back to him "Lynch sent me Rossi's location through tracing his phone, we need to go him and get him"

"You called Lynch?" Reid asked surprised "you hate him"

"I wasn't left with much choice when I realise that my fiancé and friends have disappeared!" he snapped back.

Hotch sighed "calm down Morgan, I need to shower and make my phone calls, so find the quickest route to Dave from here on your phone and meet me in the lobby in about 20 minutes"

Both men nodded and left the room, Reid could see the distressed look on Morgan's face "it'll be ok you know" he said with a sympathetic smile.

He growled slightly in response "when I know where the hell my Baby Girl is, then it'll be ok!"

When Hotch emerged from the elevator he scanned the lobby for his teammates. Morgan had his phone to his ear, obviously trying to try and get in contact with the girls again whilst Reid was sat opposite flicking through the local newspaper and eating a taco. He walked over slowly, he had drunk that amount of alcohol in a long time and it was taking its toll, at least he was able to ring Beth and let her know he was safe and that he would be home after his surprise this evening. Frowning quizzically, he stood behind Reid's shoulder, feeling his presence, the young genius turned sharply and then looked down at his food "what? We didn't have breakfast, or lunch!"

His Unit Chief simply looked at him, his face expressionless, "still no luck?" he asked turning his attention to Morgan.

He shook his head miserably in response and sighed as Hotch put a hand on his shoulder "they'll be fine, they are some of the best agents I know, they can take care of themselves. Have you got the route?"

"Yeah, he seems to be staying put, unless he's not got his phone but we just need to take the subway and we'll be there in about 15 minutes" Morgan explained.

Reid was suddenly paying attention "the subway? Do we not remember the terrorist shootings that happened there? Hotch you were almost blown up!"

"Reid it'll be perfectly safe, thousands of people travel on the subway everyday" he replied simply as he checked his watch "let's go, Morgan lead the way"

After battling through crowds, being squashed against the sides of trains and changing lines five times, the men emerged from the correct subway station.

"Now I remember why I never visit New York for recreational purposes, I may like the city but give me a car over public transport any day" Morgan grumbled.

"Well be glad we're never doing this again, where now?" Hotch asked seriously.

Reid frowned "we're not doing this again? Aw but I had such a good time, I never go out"

"Reid, he didn't mean we'd never go out again, he meant we are never making a drunk decision in the early hours of the morning to come to New York" Morgan said placing his hand on his shoulder before glancing at the map on his phone, "it should just be here"

The men looked up at the shabby looking hotel that stood before them, a lifetime away from the sophisticated 5* establishments in the centre of Manhattan. Hotch led the others into the small dark room with peeling wallpaper and worn carpet, all that occupied the space was a reception desk and two armchairs which sat people reading broadsheet newspapers which concealed their bodies. The man behind the desk was tall and thin, with the look of a suspicious butler from a murder mystery novel, he peered at the new arrivals with a look of disgust, as if they had no place being in his hotel.

Hotch walked cautiously towards the man at the desk to ask if he had seen his friend.

"You took your time didn't you?" the voice of David Rossi called from the other side of the room, tilting his newspaper to reveal his face before closing it completely "I've been waiting all day for you to come and get me"

"What are you talking about? Why are you even here?" Morgan asked.

"After I checked you into that hotel, I went to find the old store I'd been to many times that sells the finest cigars to celebrate your last days as a single man. Never have I had to find the store at five in the morning roaring drunk so when I couldn't find it I tried to get back but I realised I had no idea where you were so checked myself into the nearest hotel, which was this one. When I woke up this morning I remembered what had happened and knew I didn't know where you were so I figured you'd get Garcia to track my phone so I sat here and waited for you to come, and you have."

"Why didn't you answer our calls?" Reid asked.

Rossi frowned, "it had locked me out! I don't know how, I don't know much about phones, but it wouldn't let me do anything on it so I just left it and hoped you'd come"

"At least we're all together now, we need to get to central station and back to Quantico as soon as we can" Hotch stated.

Rossi looked at his watch "Aaron it's already quarter to two, I don't know if we'll make it back in time"

"Actually if we leave right now and take the subway route we came on but changing at-"

"Reid! My head, get on with it" Morgan cried.

"-we should get back in time for the seven o'clock reservations" he smiled innocently.

"Well let's get going then!" Rossi said ushering then out of the door.


	10. Chapter 10

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Ten**

A/N - Well I'm keeping to my promise already and getting two chapters up today alone! Hopefully I can keep it up but thank you for your continued support, it makes writing all the more enjoyable knowing that there are lovely people out there following my stories!

* * *

**Thursday 4.57pm - Still 1 Day to go...**

As the day progressed the shadows began to close in around the three agents in the woods, it was another few hours of walking and stopping periodically before Emily noticed a small strip of gravel amongst the trees, "ROAD!" she shouted, together the three women sprinted towards it and laughing in happiness and relief. They looked up and down the empty road, they were now left to decide which way do they go now. J.J. made the observation that they were quite high up and cities are usually built on lower ground so they should go downwards.

After walking only a short while Garcia's stomach soon made a growling noise, "don't blame me, I haven't eaten for almost a whole day! I need food"

J.J.'s eyes widened in shock, "food! The restaurant! Hotch was insistent that we had to be at that meal tonight, he organised it specially, we're meant to be there at seven"

"What time is it?" Emily asked.

She looked at her wrist hastily, "almost five"

Garcia bit her lip, "but D.C. is an hour away from Quantico, we'll never make it!"

Just then they spotted a small diner at the side of the road, they knew it was their only hope. They walked in to see an older woman behind the counter in the traditional 50s diner dress and an older man drinking a beer, besides that it was empty.

"How can we help you darlings?" the woman asked as she cleared used plates from the counter.

"How far is it to D.C.?" J.J. asked quickly.

"Couple of miles" the man stated, not looking up from his drink.

Penelope sighed, "any chance we could walk it?"

The man laughed gruffly, "it'd be nightfall by the time you got there" he glanced at them "especially in what your wearing"

Garcia thought she was about to cry, they were already in the worst situation and it was getting worse by the minute.

"Sandy could give you a lift in. SANDY!" the man cried,

A young woman in her twenties bobbed around the corner and smiled brightly, she was wearing jeans and a plain white t-shirt with her mousy brown hair tied up, although she was not making an effort she still looked better than any of the women.

"Dad, what's up?" she said cheerfully.

"These ladies need a ride into D.C. I thought because you were going to the store anyway you could give them a lift in the truck"

She looked at the three of them and smiled once more, they all smiled back with a lot less enthusiasm "sure no problem, hop in!"

The three women were being thrown around as the truck drove over holes in the road. It was old and slightly musty, but they were grateful for the ride.

"So what brought you out so far?" Sandy asked.

"Bachelorette party" Emily replied falling into J.J. as the truck swung around a corner "long story!"

Sandy nodded at their reflection in the rearview mirror "ah I see, I've had a few of those nights, whose the lucky lady?"

Garcia raised her hand "that would be me. Yes, as of tomorrow I will no longer be a free woman, but happily married" she smiled.

"Aw, that's so lovely, your friend's treating you before your big day, are you off home to start getting ready?"

"Yep" J.J. replied "well, our stuff as at a hotel in D.C. but then we're back to Quantico"

Sandy's eyes widened slightly as they began to drive into the urbanised area on the outskirts of the city "oh wow, I've never been up there, that's where the FBI base is isn't it?"

The women smiled at each other knowingly, trying to suppress a laugh, "yeah, it is" J.J. replied calmly.

Sandy shook her head "it must be fascinating to work there"

"How come you haven't joined?" Emily asked.

She frowned in response "what, the bureau? I don't have intelligence or the athleticism to be an agent, no helping my parents at the diner is what I'm used to, it's what I'm good at" she paused and smiled "maybe in another life"

There was silence for the last ten minutes of the journey before Sandy pulled up outside the hotel and the women departed from the truck.

"I hope you have a really good day tomorrow and enjoy every minute of it" she said genuinely.

Penelope smiled "I will, thank you for your generosity and kindness"

She shook her head "don't even mention it" J.J. and Garcia both began to walk towards the revolving glass doors which were the entrance of the hotel as Emily pulled a card out of her bag and handed it to Sandy.

"Make that life this one, don't just settle for what you know" she said before joining her friends and leaving Sandy dumbfounded.

"Right" J.J. cried as they got out of the elevator at the floor of their penthouse "ten minutes max and then we should be in the car and driving at full speed back home"

"You don't have to tell us twice" Emily called as she began to change into something more comfortable and throw all the belongings she brought with her into her suitcase. The other two followed suit and after saying goodbye to the beautiful, nearby immaculate penthouse that they did not get the chance to make full use of before checking out. Soon Emily was behind the wheel driving just above the speed limit with 90 minutes to go before they needed to be at the restaurant.

"We'll go back to my apartment" she said swerving traffic on the highway "we were supposed to get ready for this meal after work there anyway, so you're clothes are still hung up waiting"

J.J. sighed slightly in relief, although she was still majorly stressed, her feet's blisters had blisters, her brain was banging out of her skull and she was in dire need of paracetamol, it was one less thing to worry about. Despite all her worries and problems she was still determined that Garcia would have the best wedding ever and nothing would ruin that. Suddenly the realisation hit her, "oh my God Will!" and as fast as she could she switched her phone on and called her husband, nearly in tears she tried to explain what had happened before apologising to her son for not being there today.

"You ok Jayje?" Penelope asked from the backseat after she hung up the phone.

"Yeah I'm fine, Will was just glad to know we were safe, Henry's great I'll explain it to him properly afterwards. Are you not going to call Morgan?"

Garcia shook her head "we said we wouldn't contact each other unless it was an emergency and seeing as we are no longer in a state of emergency then there is no need to worry him" she paused and then glanced at the time "you are sure we'll make it?" she asked dubiously.

"If I have to go twice the speed limit and drive over ground that should never be driven over and tell the cops when we're stopped it's FBI business then I will do so, nothing else will ruin today or tomorrow!" Emily cried.

* * *

Morgan sat beside Reid as the train pulled away from the station two stops before they were due to get off, he was bouncing his leg anxiously and he couldn't sit still, he needed to get to that restaurant in the hope that his Baby Girl would be there waiting for him.

"Calm down Morgan" Hotch ordered from opposite him.

He looked up slightly before shifting in his seat again "I'll calm down when I know they're safe" he grunted.

Rossi stood up "I need to stretch my legs, maybe grab a drink, coming Hotch?"

He gave another glance at Morgan before nodding and following his friend to the next carriage.

As they left Morgan looked out of the window and thought about how distracted he'd been, in all the commotion he hadn't given a thought about tomorrow. His wedding day. He wasn't mentally prepared, they'd been together such a small amount of time it seemed surreal, but that didn't matter to him, he just wanted her to be officially his.

Reid looked up at him "hey are you ok? I know you're obviously worried about Garcia but I mean about the wedding and everything, I really hope we didn't ruin your bachelor party"

"Reid I loved the party, sure it didn't go to plan but what's life without a bit of spontaneity? As for Garcia, I have been in love with that girl for eight years" he smiled to himself "I just want to spend the rest of my life with her"

His friend frowned slightly "Morgan, why did it take you two so long to get together? It was obvious since that first time you called her Baby Girl that the chemistry was there, and if I noticed it anyone can!"

He sighed and turned to face the young genius "you know what I was like when I was younger Reid, I was a player, I thought I was all that and I loved it" he paused and took a deep breath "but when I saw her lying in that hospital bed, everything changes. The thought of her not being in my life..." he closed his eyes "that night when I took her home I said something I'd never said to another girl before, I said 'you know I love you right?' and I genuinely meant it, I knew I'd always felt it. And when she said 'I love you too' I just wanted to hold her then and there but I knew she was too fragile and just needed my friendship and protection." he paused again and frowned in anger "by the time she was strong enough, Kevin Lynch had already wormed his way in. Yeah I've been with others but none of them meant anything the way she does, no where near. If I hadn't been injured in Alaska and if that storm hadn't trapped us in I don't know if we ever would've happened, I thought she was delicate again, with Prentiss leaving, being back to the place where she'd seen a man being murdered and just before she left she told me she was not going to get back with Lynch, he's not what she wants anymore. But I guess the storm was fate, it was that push we both needed, she is a much stronger woman than she was four years ago and she finally had the confidence to accept her own feelings, and I had the confidence to admit mine."

Just as he finished his phone rang, he saw the caller's name and groaned slightly, "Morgan" he answered.

"Agent Morgan!" cried the voice of Kevin Lynch "I just thought I'd let you know that Agent Jareau's phone has just turned on"

Morgan sat up straight and turned his full attention to the man he loathed "where is she?"

"Erm... They are on the Interstate 395 from D.C. to Quantico"

Morgan gave a huge sigh of relief and relaxed for the first time in hours and even said "thanks Lynch" before hanging up. Reid looked at him with anticipation waiting for answers "they're ok, J.J.'s phone just turned on so Lynch tracked it and they're on their way back!"

"That's great! But why are they only coming back now?" he asked.

Morgan shrugged, he was just glad they were safe "we'll find soon enough"

Just then he announcement called out that Quantico Station was the next stop, Reid smiled and nodded at him understandingly, glad that Morgan felt he could confide in him. He knew it wasn't easy for him to talk about his personal life, which was evident by the events from his past that he had locked away from everyone for many years, but he told him. The jock and the junior genius, the friendship that was never meant to happen but like Morgan and Garcia's relationship, it developed and strengthened over time and now, it was now near to unbreakable.

"Time to go" Hotch said walking through the door to the connecting carriage holding a newly purchased bottle of water.

Morgan and Reid followed him to the door and waited until the train stopped and the doors opened to allow them to exit.

"Please tell me that the car is here" Morgan cried scanning the car park which was now in semi-darkness.

"The keys were in my pocket" said Rossi pulling them out as if to prove his point.

"There it is" Reid called walking towards the car that was parked horizontally across the spaces at the very back which was always empty.

As they entered Hotch looked at his watch "ten minutes"

"I need to get changed" Morgan stated.

"There's no time" he replied as Rossi began to drive away.

"Hotch, I have been wearing these clothes since last night!" he cried in disbelief, he was not vain but he took self hygiene serious, he wasn't very comfortable with walking into a restaurant and sitting down to a meal still smelling of alcohol from the previous night.

"I'm sorry Morgan, you can go to the store across from the restaurant quickly and get some deodorant but apart from that we haven't got time for anything else"

He slumped back in his seat defeated, he wanted to know what was so damned special about this dinner anyway.


	11. Chapter 11

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Eleven**

A/N - Thank you for the lovely reviews, I'm so glad you're still enjoying reading the story! This chapter is shorter than the rest but the next few will be the usual length as they reach the day of the wedding, but for now it's time for the special meal...

* * *

**Thursday 6.52pm - Still 1 Day to go...**

"Ready?" Emily called from the hallway applying her lipstick while trying to put her left ballet pump on. Unlike the other two women, being in her own home meant she had the luxury of more comfortable footwear and seeing as her feet were covered in blisters from walking all night and all day in heels she was tempted to go in her slippers. Unfortunately neither J.J. nor Garcia fit in her shoes so they were forced to wear the killer heels that they had left to change into the previous day.

Being back in her apartment was just another constant reminder that in two days she would be leaving the country, her job and her best friends. Before they had left Emily had made a start to pack up some of her belongings which were now scattered in cardboard boxes of various sizes around her home. With all the excitement of the past couple of weeks it had been easy for her to forget her decision to leave her current life, but she knew it was a move she had to make, 'dying' really puts life into perspective and she felt she couldn't continue her old life when so much had altered around her.

As if on cue Sergio brushed up against her leg affectionately, once more she would have to leave him in Garcia's capable hands but she hoped she might get a new furry friend once she was settled. Emily picked him up and stroked his soft fur as she waited in the hall for her friends to finish getting ready.

"Coming!" J.J. replied entering the hallway brushing her hair rapidly, they had only had half an hour to all have a shower and get ready in so speed was everything. She grabbed her coat and stood by Emily's apartment door before looking at her watch, "Garcia! We've got five minutes, come on!" she cried anxiously, they had made it back with enough time against all the odds, she was not going to be late to that restaurant now.

Penelope rushed through wearing her usual array of colours and even though she was pressed for time her hair was still styled to perfection, "I'm here! I'm here! Let's go ladies", and with that the three women were once more in the car and racing against the clock.

"Typical!" Emily cried slamming her hand on the steering wheel as they drove down the street Barnitos was on, "there's nowhere to park!"

They all scanned the roads, desperately looking for a space, "there!" Garcia shouted as she spotted a space down a side street. They parked up quickly and walked along the dark road until the reached the illuminated restaurant.

J.J. smiled at her friends as they reached the door "one minute early"

"I don't believe it!" Emily laughed.

"I knew we'd get through it together!" Penelope smiled linking arms with her friends and walking into the restaurant as the city clock chimed seven.

* * *

As soon as the door opened Morgan's eyes darted towards it and there she was. It was hard to believe it had only been a day and a half since he had last seen her, his heart was pounding fast with anticipation. She beamed when she saw him and ran into his lap as the men had been sat for five minutes in the lobby area of the quaint Italian restaurant waiting for the rest of their team.

"God!" Emily exclaimed "how is that you all look worse than I feel?"

Rossi shook his head and held his hands up "trust me, you do not want to know the day we've had"

J.J. sat down beside Reid, "I can guarantee it cannot be worse than ours!"

Reid gave a small smile "I wouldn't be too sure"

Penelope smiled as she looped her arms around his neck and kissed her fiancé passionately, "hey handsome" she whispered breaking off still with a smile on her face.

"Baby Girl, where the hell have you been? You have no idea how worried I've been" he asked quietly stroking her back tenderly.

She opened her mouth to answer when Hotch stood up causing everyone to turn to him, even when they were off the clock, he was still their boss. "I suppose you're all wondering why I called you here for this meal, I know we've all had an eventful day, we're tired and need to prepare ourselves for tomorrow, but that can wait a couple of hours. As there hasn't been a lot of time for planning I thought this could be the rehearsal dinner without the rehearsal and our official goodbye to Prentiss" he said giving her a small nod of acknowledgement "as well as that I also have a surprise for you two, and for all of you, it's not your wedding present, just a favour"

As Hotch finished his speech a waiter walked in from the dining area "have all the members of the Hotchner party arrived?" he asked politely.

"Yes" Rossi nodded standing up.

"Very well then, your private room, Bella Notte, is ready for you now, I will be in shortly to take your drink orders" he said before excusing himself.

Hotch held his hand out, gesturing that Morgan and Garcia go first "this surprise is primarily for you, go ahead"

They got up and walked through hand in hand, "private room sounds posh" Garcia whispered as she looked around all the intimate tables and booths in the restaurant. Morgan pointed to a sign that said Bella Notte above a wooden door, they walked towards it and as the opened the door they saw the room was not empty, sitting at the long table were two people they had not seen in a long time.


	12. Chapter 12

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Twelve**

A/N - Oh I know I was mean by leaving you at a bit of a cliffhanger but it keeps you interested and what's life without a bit of suspense? Thank you for the great response, it means a lot!

* * *

Garcia's mouth dropped open as Morgan's broke into a broad grin and he shook his head in disbelief.

"Gideon! Elle!" he cried as they both rushed to hug them, "I don't believe it, how did Hotch...? It's so good to see you!". Their former colleagues looked as if no time had passed, Jason Gideon smiled at them, the same genuine grin that he used to give the team back before everything went wrong, before Frank. Elle Greenaway however did look older, her brown hair was long once more flowing softly past her shoulders, the biggest difference was the bump protruding from her stomach. Morgan stopped as he reached her, "either you have been eating nothing but fries for seven years or someone's having themselves a baby" he laughed.

She grinned, "well thankfully I haven't taken up your eating habits!"

Penelope simply smiled as she stood beside her fiancé, "so what have you been doing with yourselves?"

"They'll be plenty of time for that, sit, where are the others?" Gideon asked.

"Right here" Hotch called from the doorway.

Reid stood next to him, his eyes widening, "Gideon" he breathed shocked to once again see his mentor and friend.

"Spencer Reid" he said calmly before meeting him to hug him

"Did you just say Gideon?" asked J.J. approaching the room with Prentiss and Rossi close on her tail, "Elle!" she cried noticing her old teammate.

"I'm sure we're all very excited to be reunited but can we sit down and order before we start getting reacquainted?" Hotch asked taking control of the situation.

Gideon met Rossi before taking a seat, "now there's a man I never thought I'd see again, David Rossi. I heard you'd taken my spot at the BAU, how long has it been since you retired? Must be coming up to sixteen years since our last case together" holding his hand out to greet his old friend.

Rossi smiled and shook it warmly, "we should never have lost touch Jason, it's good to see you again"

As they sat down Hotch made the necessary introductions, "Elle, this is David Rossi, senior agent at the BAU"

She leant over the table to shake his hand, "I've read all your books, it's an honour to meet you in person" he smiled and nodded in response.

"And this is Agent Emily Prentiss" he explained gesturing towards Emily who was sat beside him.

"My replacement?" she laughed repeating the introductory handshake.

"Afraid so!" she replied with a smile.

After settling down and ordering their meals it wasn't long before the team were first interested to find out what Elle had been doing since leaving the BAU as none of the members had heard very much of her since her retirement.

"Well, the first year wasn't great for me, after being shot I admit now that I began to go off the rails and leaving the team was really hard at first but I knew I had to keep away or I'd be tempted to come back to you all and I couldn't do that, not anymore. So I moved back home to Brooklyn for a while and went to a psychiatrist who helped me get through my problems and told me to write down what I felt, which is when I found I could actually write. I began writing crime fiction based around the BAU and cases we'd done, it helped me remember the good times as well as the bad, but it got me out of my rut. A year later my first novel was published and it got a lot more support than I thought it would, I also met my husband not long after that. We moved to the west coast, rural California, been there five years now, I'm still writing while looking after my two daughters, Gabriella who's four and Christina who's two, you'll meet them and Nathan tomorrow" she concluded.

"How come I've never heard of these books? Surely one of us..." Morgan looked pointedly at Reid "...would have noticed if your name was on the front of a book"

Elle smiled, "that was the whole point, I didn't want anyone to know it was me, especially you guys, so I used my initials and my mother's maiden name Elle Carmen..."

"Hernandez!" Reid cried "E.C. Hernandez! I've read your books, they're really good! Guys I told you about them, the books about the team of profilers"

Hotch nodded, "yes and you said they were surprisingly accurate, now we know why"

Elle smiled with pride and then shrugged it off humbly.

"How long have you got to go?" J.J. asked, changing the subject.

She looked down lovingly at her stomach and touched it out of habit, "four weeks" she replied.

"Ah you've got to be careful, I was three weeks early, and still working!" J.J. smiled remembering her reluctance to go to the hospital because she was too early and felt she needed to continue helping Reid find out about his father and his past.

"Well the other two were late so I'm not worried" she shrugged "so you've got kids now J.J.?"

"Yeah, Henry, he's three, do you know what it's going to be?"

She smiled and nodded "yeah, Nathan's getting his son, he'll probably be Nathan Jr. but we haven't finalised it yet. Anyway, can someone please tell me why it took seven years for me to receive this wedding invitation?" she faced Morgan, "come on man, you were one of the people I was closest to in BAU, I knew back from day one there was something between you two, I don't get it"

"You haven't had to live with the frustration of these two, everyday for the last eight years though" J.J. laughed

Morgan took Penelope's hand beside him under the table and squeezed it affectionately, she knew he was telling her that he had been stupid to leave it this long.

After the food had arrived Rossi began sampling his pasta, being from Italian heritage and an avid cook himself eating good food was always enjoyable, "so Jason, where has life taking you since leaving the BAU?"

He shrugged passively "did a bit of travelling around, cleared my head and then went to make up for lost time with Steven. His wife was just about to have a baby when I arrived, so I bought a house nearby and began playing Grandpa to Andrew. I love it, much more than I thought I would, I babysit for them when they were at work and he stays over every weekend. He's six now and I've just found out that I'm going to be taking up that role all over again soon. Yeah there are times I miss work, I did the job for so long how couldn't I? But then all the bad outweighs the good and I stop thinking about it and think about the light in my life now and what I have to live for"

"Yeah but after you left us hanging, me, Reid and J.J. had to go on a case with Strauss!" Morgan cried before taking a bite of his pizza, that was one case they were never going to forget, none of them wish to think what would have happened if Hotch had decided to leave the BAU and take the alternative path.

"What? Where were you two?" he asked looking at Hotch and Prentiss.

"Long story" Hotch replied

"Speaking of long stories" Morgan said turning to his fiancé, "are you ladies going to explain to us why you went off the radar this morning?"

They all looked sheepishly at each other before laughing.

"Off the radar?" repeated Elle "now this does sound interesting"

Emily shook her head quickly, "it's honestly not that exciting, it was my fault, I-"

"Don't be silly Emily" Garcia interjected hastily as they were all as much to blame, "we just got very drunk, as you do on a bachelorette party and we ended up lost in a no service area and we spent today trying to find our way back"

Morgan narrowed his eyes suspiciously "where in D.C. has no service areas?"

"Actually there are no specific areas in the city itself because the satellite coverage is strong in built up areas, unless there was a problem with an individual provider or there was something blocking the signal. Which means you must have been a few miles out of the city to not get service, I would assume in the rural outskirts surrounding the city if it took you all day to get back to your hotel" Reid stated in his usual manner.

"Thanks Spence" J.J. replied sarcastically to which he simply smiled.

"Rural areas?! How the hell did you get there?" Morgan cried.

Hotch glared at him from across the table, "Morgan" he warned.

Reid shook his head at his friend, "it's really unfair that you're criticising the girls when we woke up in New York City this morning"

The other members of the dinner party almost choked on their food.

"This gets more entertaining by the minute!" said Gideon with a smile on his face.

Emily laughed out loud, "I'm sorry, did you just say New York? As in out of state? You have the nerve to get angry about us being in a no service area of D.C. when you're miles away partying it up in the big apple!" she exclaimed.

"How did you end up there?" J.J. asked.

Rossi shook his head, "too many drinks, Morgan said it was one of his favourite places, Reid said he'd still never seen the sites. It seemed like a good idea at the time!"

Elle frowned "you told me you hadn't seen the sites when we worked a case there, you live a train ride away and you haven't had a chance in seven years?!"

Reid shrugged in response "it never seemed the right time, and why would I go alone?"

"Hang on! So none of us went into work today?" Emily asked "Strauss must have been furious"

"I spoke to her, straightened it out, she's not exactly happy, but there wasn't much she could do" Hotch replied.

"Well, it sounded like you all had a great time last night, I hope tomorrow's just as good!" Gideon smiled.

Penelope gasped "tomorrow!" she turned to Morgan "I keep forgetting, we're getting married tomorrow!"

"Yes baby, we are" he smiled back at her, he glanced at his watch, "just 15 hours to go"

She grasped his wrist and gave a short cry, she had completely lost track of time and it was almost eleven. The one thing she didn't need was bags under her eyes, especially after the day she'd had.

"I'm sorry everyone, I need to go, I need to preserve perfection for tomorrow" Garcia explained standing up "this has been lovely, thank you" she said directed at Hotch.

J.J. also stood up, "yeah I have some explaining to do to my husband"

Emily began to stand, "I'll drop you off"

Morgan cut her off "no Prentiss, this is your party too. Stay, I'll take them home"

She sat back down, "are you sure?" he gave her a look and nodded firmly.

"Morgan can you give me a ride too please?" asked Elle "I need to get back to the hotel, I don't want to disturb my girls by being back too late"

"No problem, I'll be back soon" he said turning back to the group still at the table.

Emily waved goodbye, "see you in the morning Garcia, bright and early!"

Her friend groaned but then laughed as they left the restaurant. It was so kind of Hotch to organise the dinner for them and although she'd never been as close to Elle and Gideon as she was with the rest of the team members, she knew it meant a lot to Morgan to see them again, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

After dropping off the other passengers, Morgan and Garcia were finally alone together again, though it was short lived as he was soon pulling up outside her apartment.

"Thank you for the ride my sweet" she said softly.

He pouted slightly, "I don't get to come in?"

She took hold of his hand "it's late and we've got the biggest day of our lives tomorrow, go back and enjoy the rest of the evening and then tomorrow I'll see you at that alter"

He raised his eyebrows, "is that a promise?"

She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it gently, "it must certainly is"

He lent across the car and kissed her tenderly, "how can I ever tell you how much I love you Penelope Garcia?"

"I think you do a pretty good job already, goodnight Hot Stuff" she replied getting out of the car.

Morgan sat back against his seat as he watched her enter her apartment, it always gave him chills thinking about how scared she must have been, lying on those steps after she had just been shot. If it was him, he'd never go near the place again, but she was stronger than that. He shook his head and smiled to himself as he started the engine, this time tomorrow his Baby Girl would be out of there and living together with him, as they would be for the rest of their lives.


	13. Chapter 13

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Thirteen**

A/N - Thank you again for the lovely reviews, your continued support is much appreciated! Well here it is, the long-awaited wedding day, time for everyone to get ready!

* * *

**Friday 8.03am - The Wedding Day of Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia**

It was to the sound of pounding that Penelope Garcia awoke the following morning. Groggy and sore from the excessive amount of walking she had endured the previous day, she lifted her sleep mask from her eyes and stretched her arm out to the side to feel for her glasses on her bedside table. Regaining her sight always made her feel slightly more awake and it was as she stared up at her bedroom ceiling that she realised that she wouldn't be living here anymore. It wasn't anything fancy but it had been her home for many years and she didn't like change, she knew she would have to move gradually, Derek would understand, he always did.

More pounding.

'What could be so urgent?' she thought angrily wrapping her dressing gown around her and stomping towards the front door.

She threw it open to see J.J. standing there with her hands on her hips frowning slightly, "do you not own an alarm clock?"

"Who needs an alarm when one could have your beautiful face waking them up?" she smiled shutting the door behind her.

J.J. soon made herself busy in the kitchen, making coffee and toast, "do you know how much we've got to do and the short amount of time to do it in?!" Garcia groaned in response as she sat down on the couch, "Emily will be here in half an hour, then the beauticians are coming at ten, I dropped Henry at Hotch's because he wanted to get ready with Jack as well as making sure everything is where it should be at the venue" she handed her friend a coffee cup, "drink" she ordered.

Penelope took it obediently and blew over the brown liquid to cool it down, "Jayje, you are so good to me, you're my best friend you know that? Even though we'll both be married as of today I don't want anything to change that. I miss the times when you didn't go on every case and we used to hang around my office, I get so lonely sometimes, I know I work better alone but I get sad that you are all off fighting the bad guys together and I'm just left on my own"

J.J. sat beside her and took her friend's hand squeezing it tightly, "you are my best friend too Garcie, I barely trusted anyone after my sister killed herself, I didn't want to get close in case they'd leave me. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up and clattering around the house with just me and my Mom was bad enough. You have been securely there for me for eight years, that's the longest I've been friends with anyone, that's why I trusted you to be Henry's Godmother, I know that if anything happens to me that you will do everything for him and know exactly what I'd do" she paused as Garcia gave a short sob, she nodded fiercely as tears streamed down her face, "I wish I could have spent more time with you but it seemed that every case needed help media wise and now I'm a profiler there's no chance. My favourite moments were when we were messing around in your office, especially when we had to cater for the CIA and you tried to get Prince William's number"

Her friend laughed as she recalled the memory, "missed the boat with that one"

"Yeah" she laughed, "but if you ever feel sad or lonely just call or text or webcam me or Morgan, we'll be happy to talk, I don't want you to be sad today of all days"

Penelope shook her head and smiled although tears still welled in her eyes, "I'm not"

J.J. leant over to her bag and pulled out a small pale blue woollen square and placed it in her friend's lap, "here, this is something fairly old, it is borrowed from me and it's blue, I figured you've already got a lot of new stuff so I could help you with the rest" she looked down at it fondly, "it was the first thing I ever knitted, do you remember? When I was pregnant you taught me how, I was never as good as you but you helped me create it"

"Oh thank you! I can't believe you kept it! You wanted to make a little cardigan but that was too complicated so we decided to make a square so we could create a quilt for him together. You did really well for your first time too, while you were making that I was knitting those ridiculous mittens for Kevin..." she trailed off.

J.J. put her hand over Garcia's, "is he coming today?"

She nodded slowly keeping her eyes fixated on the woollen square, "I told him about me and Derek as soon as we returned to work, I couldn't keep it from him after all we'd been through... he didn't even seem surprised, he's moved on and so have I and I'm glad"

"It's for the best, I think you two will actually be better staying as friends, not many couples can do that" J.J. agreed sipping her own coffee.

Penelope smiled at her, "I really love you Jayje"

There was a knock at the door, J.J. returned her grin as she stood up to answer it, "and I love you, now eat your breakfast, we need you to have all your strength"

"Wow" said Emily from the doorway, "is this the wedding party or have I just walked into a wake?" she cried noticing Garcia's tear-stricken face.

"We're just getting a bit emotional" J.J. explained.

"Well, there'll be plenty of time for that later, right now we've got a wedding to get ready for!"

* * *

When Morgan awoke he could hear movement downstairs, immediately he leapt out of bed, pulled on the nearest pair of pants and grabbed his gun. Preceding with caution, he crept down the stairs and pushed open the door into the kitchen slowly. Hearing noise he whipped around suddenly and was met by the laughs of his co-workers.

"Expecting someone else?" Rossi laughed taking a bite out of the toast he'd helped himself to.

Derek frowned as he lowered his gun, "what are you doing in my house?"

"You told us to stay here, last night you said there was no need to go home, we could get ready here and help you organise everything" Reid replied.

"Your house was closest, seeing as we didn't get back here until almost 2am I wasn't about to argue" Rossi added, "we went home this morning to get our suits and Reid needed his speech but we used the spare key so not to disturb you, we were about to get your ass out of bed when we got somewhat interrupted" he said looking down at the gun in Morgan's hand.

"Where's Hotch?"

"He's getting Jack and Henry ready and then he's taking them round to Garcia's and travelling with her"

Morgan nodded and was just about to help himself to some of the freshly made toast when there was a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting anyone Morgan?" Reid asked.

He shook his head in response and went to answer the door.

"Surprise!" a loud cheer came from the doorway, followed by a very familiar voice who cried "Derek Morgan! Is that a gun in your hand?! Put it down immediately before you hug your Momma"

A beam spread across his face as he placed his gun onto the side table "yes ma'am" he replied hugging his mother tightly before doing the same to both his sisters.

"I wasn't expecting to see you this early" he said "I've only just got up"

"We figured" Sarah stated eyeing up her half naked brother with her arms folded.

"I'm not staying long, I don't think it's right that you are marrying a woman that I have never met before. So you are going to give me her address so I can get to know her while your sisters help to organise you"

Morgan sighed, "Momma, Penelope's going to be stressed enough as it is without you going to judge her"

"I am not going to judge her! I simply want to get to know her so tell me where I'm going please Derek"

"I'll give you a ride Mrs Morgan" said Rossi coming through to the hall, followed closely behind by Reid.

"Agent Rossi, Agent Reid, wonderful to see you again" she smiled shaking their hands warmly, "please call me Fran and yes, a ride would be much appreciated"

Rossi smiled before getting his coat and car keys, as he went to open the door he noted Morgan's frown "they'll be fine, they'll just be talking!"

He snorted, "yeah, that's what I'm worried about!"


	14. Chapter 14

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Fourteen**

A/N - Again thank you for the reviews! We're still getting ready for the long-awaited wedding!

* * *

Emily shook her head in disbelief as she stared into the mirror, the stylists had just finished doing her hair and makeup and could not believe what a great job they'd done.

"I don't think I've ever had this much effort put into looking good for anything before!" she stated turning back to J.J. who was looking gorgeous as ever with her face painted perfectly and her blonde hair sat in neat curls on her torso.

"Well I think it'll be a while until we go to this much effort, for a wedding anyway" she replied sitting down on the couch, still in her jeans and t-shirt as they were not putting their dresses on until the last minute, in fear of ruining them.

Her friend sat beside her nodding, "yeah, I suppose the next one may be Hotch and Beth but it'll be a while off, if at all, but the track record for marriages in the BAU isn't the best anyway"

"Hey! Me and Will are doing fine" J.J. cried hitting her friend with one of the multicoloured pillows playfully.

"Yes, but first dating him was a secret and then you had Henry, it was five years before you finally married him. It took Morgan and Garcia eight years before they finally got together and Hotch, Rossi and Gideon are all divorced, numerous times in Rossi's case!"

J.J. shook her head, "you wait until it's your turn, you won't be so sceptical!"

Emily snorted, "oh no, I'm not getting married, far too much hassle. I am going to become a spinster, a cat lady, I just need to get some more friends for Sergio!"

J.J. shook her head and laughed "well, good luck with that!" there was a sudden buzzing, indicating someone wanted to come up to the apartment. Garcia was in her bedroom with the stylist, busy directing her at how she exactly wanted to look so had left her friends in charge. J.J. stuck her bottom lip out and shrugged, "Hotch must be early" she pressed the button to let them up and opened the door before returning to her seated position.

A few minutes later the door was pushed open and the two women jumped to their feet in shock.

"Mrs Morgan!" Emily cried holding her hand out to greet her "great to see you again"

She smiled warmly and returned the greeting, "and you Agent Prentiss, and Agent Jareau" she replied smiling at J.J.

She shook her head, "J.J. and Emily please, would you like some coffee?"

"If that wouldn't be too much trouble thank you, you are both looking beautiful, you are the bridesmaids I assume?"

J.J. went into the kitchen, "oh thank you, Maids of Honour" she called "please make yourself comfortable"

Fran Morgan smiled as Emily sat beside her, "did you fly in this morning from Chicago?" she asked.

She nodded "yes, me and the girls went straight to Derek's and I've left them there to sort him out but I knew I needed to meet his Baby Girl before they get married"

"Of course, Garcia is just finishing getting her hair done in the bathroom, she should be done soon"

The woman smiled "for as long as Derek has been in the BAU he has always spoken fondly of his team, he tells us all about you all but never does he talk about anyone more than Penelope. I was saddened that I didn't get to meet her when you all came to Chicago, I always told him to bring her to meet us but he never would. I knew she was special, he's been with many girls over the years but never has he cared about a girl as much as her, I could never understand why it took him so long to be with her, I've been waiting for my grandbabies!" she laughed.

"We couldn't understand either!" exclaimed J.J. handing her the coffee cup.

"Couldn't understand what?" asked Garcia walking through the beaded curtains which separated her room from the rest of her apartment, her blonde hair had been perfectly curled and then twisted up onto her head with small crimson material flowers integrated which matched her dress and her face was painted with bright colours which enhanced her beautiful features.

She eyed the stranger sat on her coach and then immediately recognised her from the picture Morgan has of his family, "Mrs Morgan! I'm sorry to keep you waiting, wedding preparations are insane, it took forever to get my hair done right, I was tempted to just do it myself! I'm so glad to be finally meeting you!" she rambled nervously sitting beside her soon to be mother-in-law.

"We'll go and get changed" said J.J. leaving Garcia and Fran alone to talk.

"Penelope dear calm down, I'm only here to get to know you, not to pass judgement. I wish we could have done this sooner but Derek always refused to bring you to visit and your engagement and marriage was all rather sudden so I thought I'd come and talk to you before hand." She placed a hand on Garcia's arm and squeezed it affectionately "Derek told me about what happened to you parents so I just wanted you to know that we're going to be your family from now on."

Garcia nodded blinking away the tears forming in her eyes so not to ruin her makeup, "thank you" she whispered.

"I don't know what my dear son has told you about me but ever since he met you he scarcely talks about anyone else so I feel like I've known you forever!" she chuckled.

"He talks about you all the time too, you are his world, especially after his Dad died, you mean everything to him. He is always saying he should visit more often but he's just so busy, I'll make sure we're there a lot more!"

Suddenly their conversation was cut short by a knocking at the door, Garcia stood up quickly to answer it.

"Auntie Penelope!" Henry cried throwing his arms around his Godmother.

She cuddled him tight and cupped his face in her hands, "this can't be my Henry, this is a smart young man standing before me" she said shaking her head looking at the little boy in small black suit with crimson tie and his blond hair sitting on his shoulders, he looked adorable.

"It's me!" he shouted causing his mother and Emily to retreat out of the bedroom dressed their crimson bridesmaids dresses, they looked even more elegant than they did in the shop. Henry ran into her arms to show himself off in his suit.

Hotch and Jack were close behind "you all look beautiful" he smiled looking from all his female colleagues, he looked behind Garica, "hello Mrs Morgan"

Fran stood up to greet him, "Agent Hotchner" she smiled shaking his hand "and this must be Jack, hello young man" she said also shaking his hand.

"Jack, this is Morgan's Mom" Hotch explained, Jack nodded and smiled shyly.

"Yes and I must be getting back to him, make sure he and his sisters haven't killed each other"

"Would you like me to take you?" asked Hotch.

"That would be lovely thank you" she turned back to Garcia, "I know Derek made the right decision, I can't wait to get to know you better and I will be proud to call you my daughter!" she said giving her a long hug.

"Thank you" Penelope whispered hugging her close.

As they were leaving Hotch turned to Jack, "are you ok here buddy?" the little boy nodded sharply and stood next to Henry, "ok see you soon"

After they had left Henry ran back up to Garcia, "can we have a story please Auntie Penelope?"

She knelt down beside him and smiled she had always given Henry stories growing up, now they were famous, "you want a story huh? Well seeing as you two are going to be doing such a good job for me in a little bit, I think we can have a quick one"

She sat in the middle of the couch and patted both sides, beckoning the boys to sit beside her. She looked over at J.J. and Emily, "this story is for everyone" she called and her friends smiled and came over.

"Right" she began, "once upon a time there were two young Princes that lived in a big castle and one day they would rule the kingdom together. Their parents were very important people and sometimes had to leave the Princes to go and save people's lives. While the parents were away, the Princes were looked after by their fairy Godmother who granted their every wish and they loved her very much, and why wouldn't they, she is amazing" Emily and J.J. both laughed, "now one day the Princes found their fairy Godmother wasn't her usual happy, amazing self, they asked her what was wrong and she said that all she ever did was grant wishes for other people but there was no one to grant her wishes. The Princes were upset to hear this so they rushed to get on their ponies and rode to the nearest kingdom to see their friend Prince Hotstuff. Now they knew that Prince Hotstuff made everyone around him happy because he was so lovely so they hoped he could make their Godmother happy too. He agreed to come and meet her so the three of them quickly rode back to the castle where their Godmother was still sad, they saw her sitting on the balcony when they arrived back and so Prince Hotstuff could get her attention he called 'hey Baby Girl' and she turned around and as soon as she saw him she loved him with all her heart. They were married the next day and the Princes were her page boys and Prince Hotstuff and Fairy Godmother Baby Girl lived happily ever after. The End"

J.J. smiled as Penelope gave both the boys big hugs, she was so good with kids, she knew her and Morgan would make wonderful parents. She soon became aware of the time and knew that Garcia needed to get into her dress soon and then it was show time.


	15. Chapter 15

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Fifteen**

A/N - I'm sorry I haven't got this up sooner but I've been busy with essays and all sorts this week but it's here now! The next one is sadly the penultimate chapter but it is actually the wedding reception which is exciting but if it takes a few days to upload it is because I want to get it to the best I can, but for now let's get to the alter...

* * *

Half an hour before the ceremony was due to begin, Jack peered through the bright curtains down to the street below, "the cars are here!" he announced to the people in the room, Hotch had made it his responsibility to look out for them and he wasn't going to let his Daddy down.

Emily walked over to where the young boy was stood and put a hand on his shoulder and looked out, there was one black limousine and a very familiar orange convertible which had been decorated and resprayed to look newer. She turned around "is that Esther?"

J.J. stood beside her and nodded, "at such short notice they only had one limo left so she said she'd rather make her baby look pretty and hire someone to drive her there anyway"

"Lucky it's a nice day" Hotch said knowing he would be travelling in the open top car.

Emily laughed, "if it wasn't then we would have problems with the outdoor ceremony"

"Garcia, are you ready? The cars have just arrived" J.J. asked glancing towards her bedroom.

Sounds of movement came from inside, "isn't it tradition for the bride to be fashionable late?" she called.

"You're not exactly traditional, are you?" Emily called back.

"Ah my pretties, that is very true!" she cried waltzing through her beaded curtains into the living room.

Everyone was speechless. Her dress looked even more amazing with her hair and make up than it did in the shop.

"Pretty Auntie Penelope!" Henry cried beaming from by his mother's side.

She put her hand to her lips and blew him a kiss which caused him to giggle.

Emily reached out and squeezed her hand, "beautiful Garcia, there are no words"

"Thank you" she whispered trying desperately not to get emotional herself.

J.J. blinked back tears and opened her mouth to compliment her best friend but the words wouldn't come out but Garcia nodded slightly and gave her a knowing smile.

She gave a deep breath it was finally time, it was really happening, "time to go" she said motioning towards the door picking up the knitted square J.J. had lent her and tucked it quickly down the side of the top of her dress, "the cars won't wait forever"

Hotch nodded, "she's right, Prentiss, J.J., Jack and Henry you're in the limo, me and Garcia will follow behind" he smiled at her as he followed behind the group and ushered them to the correct places.

Soon, Hotch and Garcia were sat in the back of the newly refurbished Esther on the way to her wedding. She began tapping her nails on the car door in anticipation, she was so excited by the prospect of starting her new life and sharing it with the man she loved but at the same time she felt ridiculously nervous. She knew it was natural to get butterflies on your wedding day but as they got closer it began to feel far too real, and for her that meant change, and that was scary.

Hotch coughed slightly from beside which caught Penelope's attention and caused her to turn and face him, "Garcia, I just wanted to say how incredible you look and I couldn't be prouder of anyone than I am of you, and what you've gone through, and what you've achieved. I am truly honoured to stand beside you, and give you away to one of the finest men I know"

For what seemed the hundredth time that day, Garcia's eyes welled up with tears, she furiously tried to blink them away so not to ruin her make up but this irritated her eyes as she had opted to live with the pain of wearing her contacts for one day. "Thank you so much Hotch" she smiled, it was a rare but lovely moment when he showed that he could be sentimental and she respected that he felt he could open up to her.

The car journey took just over ten minutes and they were soon outside the wedding venue. They were lucky, the warm April sun was shining brightly, perfect for the outside ceremony which was just visible behind the grand hall.

Inside the large, bright lobby, J.J. was told by an employee that everyone was ready and waiting outside. Through the window Garcia could see the beautiful setup, the white wooden chairs were in two rows covered in silver and crimson material which tied in a large box at the back of each seat, between the seats was corridor of flower petals which created the aisle for her to walk down. But most importantly of all, stood beneath the beautiful wooden wedding arch, beside the smiling vicar clutching the bible, stood her man.

Penelope snapped out of her daydream by the feeling of a hand on her back. She turned to find J.J. smiling at her, "it's time Garcie." Soon enough she was stood at the back of the line beside Hotch and the wedding march began to play by a small band that was situated beside the rows of guests. She beamed proudly as she watched Jack take Henry's hand and the boys walked steadily together in their smart suits, ensuring that they did their job correctly. Clutching their bouquets of flowers Emily and J.J. were next to be ushered out, Garcia couldn't help but think it was organised more like a military operation, but at the same time she thought about how beautiful and elegant her friends looked walking down the aisle.

"Are you ready?" an attendant of the hall asked interrupting her thought process, she had been so lost in what was happening outside that she had forgotten her role. Hotch held his right arm which allowed her to link hers through it, he smiled reassuringly as she looked up at him.

"Yes" Penelope replied more confidently than she felt. The attendant ushered them forwards and although there were many faces that were stood towards her, her eyes only locked on one. The one that always calmed her, made her feel complete. In that moment nothing else mattered, everyone else was a blur to her, the perfect, proud, smiling face of Derek Morgan was the only thing that was clear. She knew then that her dreams had come true, and this was the beginning of a new and exciting life, together.

As she walked down the aisle towards him, Morgan could not believe how incredible she looked, it was as if she was the only person around him and the world had gone into slow motion. Her beauty exploded from every pore, from her silky blonde hair curled up onto her head down to the shining white and crimson dress which hugged her exquisite curves and flowed down to her sparkling silver heels. He couldn't feel more proud and lucky that it was him who was getting to spend the rest of his life with this woman. He was knocked back into reality as Reid whispered into his ear from beside him, "she looks so beautiful." He turned slightly and gave him a nod and a smile.

At the end of the aisle Hotch turned to Penelope and looked her for a moment before giving a hug and kiss on the cheek and shook Morgan's hand, "you will look after her" he stated as he placed her hand into his before taking his seat.

Morgan smiled as he was finally reunited with her, he took her hand and squeezed it as they turned to face the vicar.

"Hey Baby Girl" he whispered softly so it was just about audible to her.

She giggled, all her worries soon dissolved as she looked into his dark eyes which glowed with the love he felt for her, she squeezed his hand back in response, "let's do this Hot Stuff"


	16. Chapter 16

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Sixteen**

A/N - Thank you for the lovely reviews! I know I said that this would be the penultimate chapter to the story but I ended up writing more than I anticipated so I thought I'd better split it into two. Here are the speeches, I hope you think they're ok, I tried to make them quite heartwarming but anyway read on...

* * *

The day was fast becoming one of Penelope's favourites. She found that there were just little moments that were filling her with great happiness like she had never experienced before. Sitting at the long table beside her new husband was another one of them. Even thinking the word husband made her heart swell with joy. All those years of longing, accepting that she would never be good enough for the epitome of perfection that is Derek Morgan, destined to be the best friend and never the lover. How so much can change in such a short space of time, now he is all hers, now and forever.

They had decided on a sit down meal to feed their closest friends and family who had attended the ceremony and then have a buffet for the reception later in the evening. Along the top table on Garcia's other side sat her two best friends, Henry was sat beside his mother and Jack next to him and then Hotch, on Morgan's other side sat Reid. There were sixty people situated around the room on individual tables, including many colleagues such as dear Anderson, Strauss and Kevin, then there were her friends from her support group and also her theatre group. Some of Morgan's friends from Chicago and family members like his Aunt Yvonne, cousin Cindi and her son Anthony had also made the journey. The table that was few in numbers was that reserved for Penelope's family, not that she had expected many of them to come, after her parents died she cut herself off from her past life and that included her family. Her youngest step-brother Bradley and his wife and young daughter were sat with her mother's sister and Garcia's closest relative, Auntie Kat, she had always believed that was were she developed her eccentric style and personality from, she was most glad she had made the effort. Lastly, the table nearest to the top table sat the rest of their family, David Rossi was beaming up at them with his glass of scotch sat beside Will and Beth. Also on the table sat Fran, Desiree and Sarah, they had been in tears throughout the ceremony watching their son and brother on his wedding day and they were still highly emotional.

Penelope's thought process was soon interrupted by the tinkling sound of a silver knife being tapped against an empty champagne glass, the sign that the long-awaited speeches were about to begin. Morgan had kept a firm grip to her hand under the table since they had finished eating, he fiddled playfully with her wedding, twisting it as if to remind her it was real and it was forever.

They looked down the table to see young Spencer Reid standing up nervously, he had his cue cards placed on the table in front of him for guidance, it was clear that trying to speak naturally and be entertaining in front of an audience was something that he struggled with. He looked ahead of him to Rossi, who had mentored him throughout his job as best man, he gave him a smile, a wink and a nod to show he had confidence in him.

Reid looked down once more, adjusted his tie slightly and took a sip of champagne, "uh hi" he began, "most of you know me as Dr Spencer Reid and the rest of you don't know me at all. Morgan made me promise to make this statistic free and anyone who knows me will know that's been quite a struggle. You're probably expecting me to reel off all these embarrassing tales about the groom, but I don't have too many. I could tell you about the time he got scared when we got stuck in an elevator or when he started a practical prank war against me which ended with him listening to the sounds of me screaming down his ear or even how we woke up in New York City two nights ago after we got far too drunk on his bachelor party, but I'm not. Instead I'm going to tell you about the first time I met Derek Morgan, it was 23rd March 2004, 7.48am, I had just had my introductory meeting with Hotch and Gideon, it was my first day at the BAU, I wasn't expecting much, I was there to work, I hadn't fit in anywhere else why would there be any different. When I first looked out of the bullpen there was a young man in a suit trying to look professional but he had his feet on the desk, I could tell immediately that he was the jock, the popular kid, the alpha male, so as I always did I kept my head down trying to avoid confrontation as I walked past him to get to my desk. Just as I put my bag down I hear, 'hey pretty boy', I thought here we go, the torture begins, so I just turned and he smiled at me, not a cruel smile but a friendly smile, he just said 'Morgan, Derek Morgan, take a seat kid, I'm pretty new too it'll be nice to have someone to hang round with'. And with that I gain my first friend, my first true friend, he didn't have to say anything, he could've just ignored me, the weird new kid who looks about twelve with odd socks and clothes from the fifties, but no. I think that shows exactly what kind of a man Derek Morgan is and this is why I'm proud to be his best man today."

Spencer sat down quickly in relief of fulfilling his final duties of being best man as a round of applause filled the hall. Morgan clapped his hand on his friend's shoulder and grinned, "not bad Pretty Boy"

Reid gave a small smile in response and shrugged, "if I ever get married and you're my best man you're solving a quadratic equation instead to allow you to feel the pain and stress that speech inflicted onto me!"

Morgan shook his head and chuckled, "touché kid, touché"

From the other end of the table, Hotch took his cue to stand, from years of communicating with people through his position in work, public speaking was not an issue to him, he stood calm and collected. "Next time Reid, let me know you're going to do such a good speech so I don't have to follow after you" he said with a small smile, "I am not the father of the bride but when Penelope asked me to do the honour of giving her away I thought it only fair to give her the speech she deserves. When I was first told we were going to have a technical analyst appointed to help the team I didn't fully understand the reasoning behind it and to be honest I was fairly sceptical, but the team was changing, these two young men had just started, we had been given our usage of the jet and I realised that modernisation was inevitable, little did I know how important our analyst would be to our team and our lives. I sat at my desk with all the resumes of the applicants, I was about halfway through when one caught my eye, it was on pink handmade stationary. Bemused and intrigued I read the working life of Penelope Garcia, learning she was so intelligent that she had managed to hack the FBI system and had been offered a job so to fully utilise her skills. I had a gut feeling about her and was convinced when we first met, kitted out in her bright colours and wild hair, I knew she would bring light to a job that was so full of darkness. I have had the honour of working with this woman for eight years and there isn't a case that we could've solved without her, I have seen her grow from strength to strength and never let the job affect who she is and what she believes in. I can't think of anyone worthier of the happiness that she has found in being with Morgan than her, and I wish you both all the luck and joy in your new lives together."

This time no matter how much her contacts irritated her Penelope couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face, it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said about her. She wanted to reach out and say thank you to her boss, for always believing in her despite everything but there were four people blocking her way, she would have to wait until later. Derek squeezed her hand again from beside her as he stood up to give the final speech, she didn't understand why it was only the groom who got to speak about their relationship but in a way she was glad, having to speak publicly was the last thing she wanted to do whilst she was enjoying her wedding day.

"Ok, so I've been nominated to conclude the speeches, fair enough, I am paying for this so it's only fair I get to finish off. So we've heard from Pretty Boy here what I'm like and Hotch has rightly told you how amazing my Baby Girl is, so I guess it's my turn to tell you about us. Us" he smiled down at Garcia briefly, "I guess you know there wasn't really an us before twelve days ago, not many people can say that on their wedding day! But then again there has always been an us. The day I first saw her across the bullpen there was an us, when Reid told me her name was Gomez and I sounded like a right fool calling for her attention, so that's when I called her Baby Girl and she just turned and looked at me with her beautiful big eyes, she wasn't wearing so much colour then but I could tell she was something special. Unfortunately I didn't do anything about it, in fact neither of us did, for eight years! As luck would have it a blizzard kept us in Alaska two weeks ago and I will be thankful for that for the rest of my life because it finally opened our eyes to what we'd been blind to for so long. Our love is no different now than it has been for years, we barely act any differently, everyone knew we were the couple without romance except us and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making up for lost time, because I feel so much more alive with every moment spent with her, I am not me without you and we are not 'me and you' anymore but we are and always will be 'us'."

He sat down steadily as Penelope grabbed his face and kissed him fully, not caring of the sixty eyes on them, she couldn't have imagined a more perfect speech, her Baby Boy was hers and it was true, from now on it would be them together fighting whatever the world wants to throw at them, they'd be ready.


	17. Chapter 17

**When Two Become One**  
**Chapter Seventeen**

A/N - Thank you for the lovely reviews! Just to let you know this is **NOT** the final chapter, I will be doing an epilogue to round the story off nicely. On another note, the song I chose for their first dance, I'd never heard of it before I literally typed Baby Girl songs into YouTube but I didn't choose it just because of its title, I thought it wasn't the generic love song and it had a lovely meaning of making dreams come true together with people you love. Anyway please enjoy the chapter I know its been a long time coming!

* * *

The evening was about to begin, the lights had been turned down low and a queue for the finger food buffet was already forming at the back of the room. Since the afternoon meal, the newly married couple had not a chance together as they had been socialising with their guests from the ceremony and now more were arriving for the reception.

From opposite sides of the room they were both interrupted by the sound of the DJ tapping his microphone to get everyone's attention, "ladies and gentlemen I would like to invite Mr and Mrs Morgan to the floor for their first dance". Garcia's heart hit the floor, she hadn't chosen a song for their first dance, she realised that meant that the DJ would have picked one from the fifty greatest love songs, which she liked in moderation but it wouldn't mean anything to them.

Slowly she navigated her way through the groups of people at various tables to meet her husband by the edge of the floor, Morgan could immediately see the worry in her eyes, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "I sorted it woman, stop panicking"

It was a look of confusion she then gave him as they walked into the middle of the dance floor before the music began playing. It wasn't a slow, dreary love song as common for first dances but the sound of country and western, it was their song, their first song. A grin spread slowly across her face as she looped her arms around his neck and they moved together in time with the music.

Penelope's mind flashed back to four years ago, the first time they had gone out for dinner since her shooting, she felt apprehensive about going out but he gave her all the confidence she needed. They were in a quiet restaurant out of town slightly but there was a dance floor in the centre of the booths that encouraged people to get up and dance. Once they had finished their meals a song began playing over the speakers, it was 'Baby Girl' by Sugarland, she had commented how much she loved the song and Derek immediately took her hand and pulled her up to dance, it felt so natural moving beside him. He noted how relevant the song was because although it was about a woman singing to her parents, the lyrics said 'this time I'm gonna make our dreams come true, I love you more than anything in the world - love your Baby Girl', he said he would always be there to help her fulfill her dreams and no matter what happened he would always love her.

"This is perfect Derek, you remembered our song" she whispered as the chorus began playing for the second time.

He lent down and kissed the top of her head, catching the sweet scent of her hair, "of course I remembered and I mean it just as much now as I did before, I love you more than anything in the world and I'm going to make our dreams come true"

"Ah my sweet but you've already completed part two, you were always my dream" she smiled resting her head on his chest.

He stroked her back lovingly, completely forgetting their surroundings, the two of them could have dancing all evening as it felt as though they were alone, "and you were mine Baby Girl" he sighed.

As the song concluded he kissed her softly before leading her off the dancefloor, within two minutes they were parted again as her girls rushed up to grab her before she could disappear. They had requested Shakira to the DJ so to reenact their salsa lessons, the three friends held hands and danced in a circle together, smiling and laughing the entire time. It had completely escaped their minds that Emily would be leaving in less than twenty four hours, but that was heartache for tomorrow, tonight they would enjoy a night that they would never forget.

* * *

It was hours before Penelope sat down again, amongst the meal, the speeches, the dancing and the large amount of socialising she had not had two minutes to rest.

She soon felt a hand on her shoulder, thinking it was her husband she looked up expectantly.

"Kevin" she said in surprise, seeing the all too familiar bespectacled man standing behind her.

He moved to sit on the seat beside her at the table, "hey Plumsa- Penelope, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for using your computer the other day but Agent Morgan said it was an emergency-"

"-Kevin, it doesn't matter" she interrupted quickly shaking her head, there was a moment of silence, "you didn't just come over to say that did you?" she asked.

"I- I wanted to say how beautiful you look and how lovely today has been. I really hope you and Morgan are very happy together" he said quickly.

Garcia took his hand and smiled warmly at him, "thank you, I'm glad there's no harshness between us, you are a very sweet man and you will have a great life, whether that be with Miss Sharp or whoever"

He returned her smile and nodded as he stood, "better continue to enjoy the party, I'll see you around Pen"

As she watched him return to the table where he was sat with Anderson and Gina Sharp, Penelope looked around the room fondly.

On the dance floor J.J. and Will were dancing closely together with such love and chemistry which she and Derek had shared when they had danced earlier in the evening. Beside them Hotch had Jack in his arms whilst holding Beth's hand so they all danced together, she smiled at them, they made such a lovely family, Haley would be proud. Elle was also dancing with her family who Penelope had been introduced to earlier, four year old Gabriella was spinning happily under her mother's arm in a pink dress which flowed outwards as she twirled and two year old Christina was bouncing in her father's arms beside them in a matching dress to her sister but it was golden in colour. Both girls mirrored their mother in looks as they both had beautiful dark skin and thick, long brown hair which fell in natural loose curls down their backs. Garcia also noted that Rossi had persuaded Strauss up to dance and they were laughing joyously together as they swayed to the music.

Away from the busyness of the dance floor, Penelope saw Reid onlooking in the corner, he was in deep discussion with Gideon, what about she couldn't tell but it was obvious that the young genius was happy to be reunited with his old mentor and friend. She couldn't help but grin at the fact that curled tightly on his lap was their Godson, despite the noise of the people and the music he slept soundly with his long blond hair that had fallen over his adorable face and he had his chubby little hand firmly around Reid's finger.

"Penny darling!" Garcia heard a voice called from across the room, she turned to see her Auntie Kat teetering over in 3 inch heels towards her. In a bright yellow suit with an orange flower poking out of her cherry red hair, the woman in her late fifties was still exactly the same the cool, eccentric younger sister of her mother's she had known and loved from her childhood.

She met her in a tight embrace, it had been many years since she had last seen her and with work and life getting in the way contact had been limited.

Auntie Kat held her at arms length, "let me look at you, oh your Mom would be so proud of her little Penelope! You were her one and only that's what she called you, she always had high hopes for you Rachel did and look at you now, working in the FBI, now married to that hunk..." she cried tilting her head towards where Morgan was sat with his mother and sisters. Garcia looked at her through blurry eyes as they filled with tears, her Auntie placed her soft hand on her cheek and wiped her eyes gently as if she was five years old again, "hey now, we're not going to cry, not today. We are going to celebrate this happy day and many more to come, just don't about your old Auntie Kat now"

She shook her head, "never!" she laughed hugging her close once more.

Tucking her hand into her purse she pulled out a small framed photograph, it was of two young women laughing with their arms around each other and in the middle was a happy, smiling blonde haired girl about eight years old, she had pigtails and was wearing a purple shirt and a vibrant green pinafore over it, "I was clearing out some old things and found this, I know it's not much but I thought you would like it so you won't forget your family. Right, I'll be around for a while longer so we'll talk properly later but for now I think your step-brother has been loitering around waiting to speak to you"

Penelope looked behind her and saw Bradley standing with his hands in his pockets, when he caught her eye he gave her a small smile. "Thank you Auntie Kat" she cried kissing her on the cheek before she just nodded and went to join in on the party on the dance floor.

As she left her step-brother walked over to meet her, "hi Pen" he said giving her a hug. Bradley was the youngest of her step-father's four boys, although she was only little when her mother married him the boys had always been a lot older and she had barely anything in common with them except she shared a house with them until they were old enough for college. Bradley was the closest in age to Penelope with there being eight years between them meaning she spent the longest amount of time with him and inevitably they became closer so it wasn't a surprise that he was the only one of her step-brothers to show up. He still lived in California, he was a doctor and had his beautiful wife and daughter Ella who were sitting at the table they had occupied for the evening.

"Hey you, how's life?" she asked.

He shrugged, "same old, it's great to see you, it has been too long and congratulations by the way, he is alright this Derek Morgan is he? I don't have to play the defensive older brother do I?"

She chuckled as although Bradley was in pretty good shape it was unlikely that he would do any harm to her new husband and his body of steel, "I think it's a little late for that! No he's lovely..."

He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder, "I wish you could come home sometimes Pen, I feel like you've never really come back since Rachel and Dad..." she looked away as he was unable to finish his sentence, "anyway I know all the family would love to see you, they would have come today but it was such short notice and such a long way to travel"

"I understand" Penelope replied softly "and I don't think I could ever go back there, not after everything that's happened, I would feel like a stranger" she looked around the room and smiled at the members of her team, "this is my home now, this is my family"

Bradley nodded slowly, "I know" he sighed, "if you ever change your mind though, just give me a call" he said hugging her close.

"I will" she whispered into his shoulder, before watching him walk off and join his family. Although they would always have a connection and she would ties to her family in California, it was another lifetime, and an unpleasant lifetime for the most part. Of course she did have lots of good memories that she would treasure forever, she wanted to look forward to the new chapter in her life, not look back.

As she sat down once more she heard a cry above the noise, "Garcia?" she turned to see Emily walking towards her.

"My love, what can I do for you?" Penelope smiled up at her.

She sat in the chair Kevin had occupied before, "I'm really sorry babe but I'm going to have to head off"

Garcia frowned and looked up at the large clock on the wall, "it's only just ten thirty, the night is still young"

"I know but I have to get everything ready for tomorrow" she replied sadly.

The realisation hit her and that tight feeling in her chest returned, "oh yes of course" she said forcing a smile.

Emily cupped her hand to her friend's face, "listen to me, I am so glad I could be here to share today with you, it has been magical and a day I will never forget. You are one of the most special people in my life and always will be, so don't you dare be sad today. Now enjoy the rest of your night and I will see you at the airport tomorrow" she wrapped her arms around her neck pulling her into a tight hug, "love you P"

"Love you Em" she replied and watched as her friend left, no matter what Emily had said it wouldn't stop the fact that she was leaving.

Penelope was now realising how hot it was in the crowded hall, there were so many people dancing she was starting to feel claustrophobic.

No sooner had she thought it, a hand was on her shoulder for the second time that evening, "care to take a walk with me Mrs Morgan?" asked the low growl voice of husband in her ear over the noise of the loud music.

She smiled appreciatively, "gladly, kind sir" and took his hand as he led her outside. He placed his arm around her as he had done so many times before, to anyone else, there was little difference in there behaviour but to them, their new bond made a world of difference.

It was dark outside and the night air felt heavenly on her skin as they walked down the gravel path to the illuminated fountain, they sat along the cool stone of the edge and looked up at the stars that were clear in the cloudless sky.

"We finally did it" Penelope stated with a smile.

"Oh yes we did!" he laughed in agreement "the ceremony was beautiful, Hotch's speech great, Pretty Boy was brilliant, everyone came and is having a great time"

"You weren't bad yourself with your speech sugar!" she laughed as she nudged him.

He shrugged, "well I ain't nothing without you Baby Girl" he said gently guiding her face towards his and kissing her.

She sighed, placed her head on his shoulder and looked up at the sky, "this is the moment where Morgan Freeman should be doing the voiceover for our own rom-com movie and he'd conclude with 'and they both lived happily ever after' and then a 'The End' would appear on screen in curly writing"

He placed his hand onto hers and looked into her eyes, "Momma we are not that generic, because this isn't the end Penelope Morgan, it is just the beginning"


	18. Epilogue

**When Two Become One**  
**Epilogue**

A/N - Well this is it, I'm actually so sad it's over but I've now finished two stories which is a first for me! I wrote this epilogue three times before I had a brainwave and decided to write this one instead, I hope you think it is a fitting ending. I cannot express how much I appreciate your support throughout both stories, being new to writing on here I had no idea that they would receive the response that they did and I thank each and every one of you for that. My next story will most probably be Criminal Minds/Silent Witness (BBC programme about a team of pathologists in London), please do not disregard it because it is a crossover, the story will be mainly based on Prentiss and how the BAU team help her when they find out the trouble she's been facing alone during her first year in London.  
Once again thank you so much and enjoy! - Much love as my friend would say xxxxxx

* * *

**5 Years Later**

It was still dark outside when the bleeping of the alarm clock interrupted the silence, Derek Morgan flashed open his eyes as he knew he had an agenda to keep to.

His wife grumbled next to him, her cheek was pressed firmly onto his chest and she moaned softly as he began to move, "shh Baby" he whispered slowly removing his arm from around her shoulders, "it's not time to wake up yet, go back to sleep". Not needing to be told twice Penelope turned her back on him and began breathing deeply which indicated that she was asleep once more.

The red numbers on the clock on his beside table read 3:00am, he sighed but quickly and silently he began to get dressed before pulling out the two large suitcases he had packed several days ago while Penelope had gone shopping, he had kept their five year wedding anniversary surprise a secret for months, it was not going to be ruined at the last moment. It had shocked him how oblivious she had been to his planning as usually her over inquisitive brain and access to all his bank accounts through work was a disadvantage to him, but living with that brilliant woman for the past five years has meant he had learnt how to work around her.

Once he had carried the suitcases downstairs, he had the job of waking the children. They had to be at the airstrip at five o'clock and getting kids ready could sometimes be a nightmare. First he headed to the boys' room, pushing the door open he saw two small heads poking out of their brightly coloured duvets, above each of the single beds there were wooden letters, the first read 'Joseph Aaron' and the second read 'Luke David'. The previous night he had volunteered to put the boys to bed so help them get their toys in a bag and explain to them that they were going on an adventure in the morning.

Derek knelt down beside his oldest son's bed and shook him awake gently, "Joe? Come on buddy wake up we're going on an adventure remember, you need to get up and dressed"

The four year old blinked open his dark brown eyes and frowned in confusion at his father before sitting up and nodded, "ok Daddy" he said sleepily.

Just as he had with Joe, Morgan moved to his younger son's bed and placed his hand on his shoulder, the two year old's face lit up when he saw his Daddy when he awoke.

Derek mirrored his smile, "there's my littlest man, it's time to go on our adventure, we need to get you ready". Luke was too young to understand exactly what he was meant to do but he smiled and nodded, he got up and began, as usual, copying his older brother.

Within fifteen minutes Derek had washed and dressed his sons and had led the boys downstairs, he turned the television on low and left them watching one of their favourite programmes to occupy them while he continued to organise everything.

Derek soon left his boys and went back upstairs to the nursery, he looked into the white wooden cot and saw that their daughter was already awake. Feeling her father's presence four month old Rachel stopped squirming and looked up with her big, beautiful, dark eyes and blinked up at her before giving him a toothless smile.

Effortlessly, he scooped her up with his large hands into his arms and cradled her softly, "good morning beautiful girl, time to get you dressed to go on holiday" he whispered as he placed her on the changing table. After replacing her baby grow for a pink t-shirt, jeans and baby trainers he held her in his arms once more, just like with his wife and boys, he had gotten her belongings together days in advance to avoid too much hassle the morning before they left. Quietly he placed Rachel into her car seat which he had already brought into her nursery before finally returning to his bedroom to wake his wife.

Morgan lay beside his wife and shook her gently, "come on Baby, time to wake up". Penelope grunted and responded by pulling the covers over her head and buried herself further into the bed, "oh no, we're on a tight schedule Precious and you've got to get up now" he said pulling the covers off.

Penelope narrowed her eyes and felt for her glasses on her bedside and regained her sight before turning on her side and folding her arms onto Derek's chest, "that was very rude, do you have any idea what time it is?!" she snapped as she rested her head on her arms and looked up at him through the slits that were her eyes.

"You should learn to wake up easier" he replied calmly smiled down at her.

She leant her face closer to his until she could feel his warm breath on her skin, "after twelve years Hot Stuff you should know I do not like being woken up, I wake up myself and that way I can deal with my own level of grumpiness. Seeing as it was you who woke me up, you may feel my wrath"

Her closeness was something he definitely could not resist, he grinned at the sight, even when she was moody and grumpy in the morning, he could not love her anymore, waking up with her beside him every morning was a blessing. "You'll thank me later, but right now you're going to kiss your husband good morning" he said softly holding the back of her head pushing it gently the short distance before their lips met. Their kisses were magical, whether they were short and sweet or passionate and lingering, there was always a spark when they connected. After they parted Derek held her under his arm once more as they cuddled close together, embracing this rare time that they could spend enjoying each others company.

Less than five minutes later the sounds of raised voices could be heard from downstairs.

Penelope sat up and frowned, "Derek why are the boys awake?"

"Whoops, lost track of time there, come on you need to get dressed right now" he smiled getting up of the bed.

She narrowed her eyes again, "what's going on? You know I hate not knowing what's going on"

As he reached the door he had a smug look on his face, "exactly, I'll meet you downstairs in no more than twenty minutes"

Penelope let out a frustrated cry as he left, Derek Morgan knew her better than anyone so he knew how much this would irritate her, he must have a very good reason for doing this to her and making her mind go into overdrive. Despite her present anger towards him, she reluctantly began to get ready.

* * *

The sky was beginning to lighten as morning crept in as the Morgan family were all present and correct in their car and Derek kept the bemused look on his face as he drove to the mystery location. Out of the corner of his eye he could see how irritated his wife still was from beside him as she had turned slightly away from him, folded her arms and not said a words since entering the car.

"Are we there yet Daddy?" Joe called from the backseat.

"Five minutes little man" he replied as he continued to speed along the nearly empty roads.

It was in fact less than five minutes by the time Morgan parked the car, "plane!" Luke cried happily looking out of the window clapping his little chubby hands together.

Penelope mouth hung open as her eyes were drawn to the small, private plane, "what is this?" she hissed to her husband but he ignored her as he left the car and walked over to speak to the man stood next to the plane, which she assumed was the pilot.

He returned to the car with a grin on his face, "we're all set"

Garcia took hold of his wrist so he couldn't leave and avoid her questions again, "what did you do?"

He looked innocently at her, "I did a thing" he smiled echoing her own phrase, "come on you take the kids up, I'll get the luggage"

She sighed and pursed her lips in annoyance but turned in her seat and faced her three children who'd been sat patiently, "you heard Daddy, time to go on our adventure" she exclaimed with more enthusiasm than she was feeling.

A cheer came from her sons whilst Rachel gargled happily from her carseat. She grinned as she picked up her baby and took her youngest son's hand to lead them towards the plane.

Inside, the plane was smaller than the BAU jet and it was a lot less glamorous but despite that it was practical for whatever Morgan had planned. Penelope sat her boys opposite her as Rachel wriggled in her lap, they were excitedly pulling out their action figures out of their backpacks and making them fight each other. Joe was a carbon copy of his father, confident, cheeky but with a huge warm heart. Physically they were similar also, he was tall for his age and with his beautiful caramel coloured skin and dark hair and eyes he would surely be getting the girls' attention when he was older, but for now he was her adorable baby boy. Luke was also physically similar to his brother and father with his longer dark hair and golden skin tone. In personality though he favoured his mother, even as a toddler he was very bright and inquisitive, both his parents agreed he was spending too much time with Uncle Spencer. Garcia was so proud of how them, she loved her children with all her heart.

Soon her husband came and sat on the seat beside her, placing his arm lazily around her shoulders as he always did, "we're about to take off" he announced to his family.

Garcia turned to him, "do I get to know what's going on yet?"

He shook his head firmly, "not yet beautiful"

* * *

The entire Morgan family were asleep after their early morning wake up when Derek was jolted awake by the pilot calling through the speakers that they would be landing shortly, this was his cue. Acting quickly he took a blindfold and his headphones out of his bag and gently shook his wife.

"Mm?"

"Almost time for your surprise Baby Girl just put these on for me please"

She blinked at the items in his hand and sighed, it was useless protesting now after all the effort he had gone through and nodded slowly.

Now blind and deaf, Penelope was oblivious to her surroundings, she could feel the plane landing and soon after she was being led down the steps and on to solid ground. It reminded her of when the team conducted cognitive interviews, they always said that when some of your senses are taken away from you your others go into overdrive, right now her touch and smell were her only connections to the outside world. She was soon led into what she assumed to be the passenger seat of a hire car yet it smelt fairly old and musty, there was something familiar about it but she couldn't quite place it. The car journey seemed to take a long time but with just her thoughts to occupy her time it she could not gauge an estimate. Once they were slowed to a stop she felt her seatbelt being unbuckled from across her and then she was soon lifted off her feet and carried by who she could only assume as her husband to their final destination.

Once Garcia was placed firmly on the ground and everything was in position, Derek smiled to himself as he stood behind her, pulled the headphones from his wife's ears and wrapped his arms around her waist, "are you ready Baby?" he whispered into her ear.

Penelope nodded glad to have regained her hearing, her anger and annoyance was soon overcome with excitement to see what her husband had organised for her.

"Ok, shall we count down from three boys?" Morgan asked his sons.

"3-2-1!" they shouted together as Derek lifted the blindfold from her eyes.

It Garcia a moment to adjust her eyes but once she could see clearly she brought a hand to her mouth in shock. She was stood in place she hadn't stood in for five years. "How- how...?" she stammered.

Morgan kept his arms around her to keep her steady, "I thought what better way to make our five year anniversary special than to bring us back to where it all began"

Penelope was still unable to move, she couldn't believe that he had organised to bring the whole family out to the little town in north Alaska, to their cave, it was the most wonderful thing that he could have possibly done. She laughed through her tears at her little boys who were stood holding a handmade banner which read 'Happee 5 Aneverseree Mommy and Daddy!'

"Did you two make this my angels?" she cried kneeling down in front of them.

They nodded their heads firmly before their mother pulled them into a tight embrace, "I love it! It is fantastic, I'm so proud of you!"

"Mommy? Can we play in the snow please?" Joe asked looking at her with his big dark eyes, Luke nodded eagerly from beside his older brother.

She grinned at them, knowing it was their first time experiencing the snow and she knew how excited they would be as she felt the same five years earlier. "Of course you can baby, but just stay in front of the cave entrance where we can see you and play nicely with your brother"

"Yay!" they both cheered and happily rushed out to begin kicking and throwing the white fluff about happily.

Penelope gave a shiver, everyone else already had on their winter clothes which Derek must have packed for them but she on the other hand was not dressed for the occasion. Immediately Morgan shrugged off his own coat and placed it over her shoulders, she looked up at him gratefully. Rachel then made a small cry from her carseat, Penelope picked her up and held her in her arms stroked her tuft of brown hair affectionately, "that's better, just a bit lonely weren't you? You've got a lot more of your Grandma in you than just her name, she was always a people person too" she leant down and kissed her little forehead causing her to give a high-pitched giggle and intertwine her tiny fingers into her mother's hair. They both then sat on the cool, hard stone floor with their baby girl sitting between them watching their innocent little boys play.

Morgan put his arm around his wife as she lazily rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, "Derek this is perfect, I can't believe you did all this, bringing us all back here. Where we first kissed, where you proposed, it seems so long ago, before marriage, before the kids..." she reminisced wistfully.

He kissed her head softly, "it's all for you Baby Girl, you better believe I'm stuck with you forever and that means spoiling you like you deserve. I wanted the kids to experience Alaska the way we did, give them memories they can treasure and give us a proper family holiday. I love you Penelope, just as much as I did five years ago, just as much as I did nine years ago, these past few years have only made our love stronger and nearby unbreakable. Life gets in the way and I don't tell you often enough how special you are to me, my life is incomplete without you, thank you for always being there"

With eyes full of tears once more she brought her hand to his face, "oh my sweet prince, it is I who should be thanking you, I love you with all my heart" she paused and looked at Joe who was trying to tell Luke how they would make a snowman and then down to little Rachel who was still amused by playing on her mother's hair, "this is perfection and because of you I will always have this moment to look back on"

Morgan took her face in his hands and kissed her fully, with all the love and passion which filled his heart, "then here is to many more of these moments"


End file.
